Just like the story of Kabir’s wife, you remember? They were both Enlightened Saints. But as a true Hindu wife and Goddess, She would never in a dream put Her foot in front of Her husband and let people know how great She is. It is enough that He is enlightened and is the Teacher. She doesn’t care to be the second one, or the equal one. All the Hindu wives never in a dream do such things. They are very humble. They always stay behind and do whatever the husband told them to do. That’s why since ancient times we have so few women Masters.
Because, as you know, most of the sacred literature of practicing spiritually is well preserved and revered in India. And many of the great Masters came from India. And many of the great Masters came from different lands, but have Their root of spirituality from India. So, of course, men teach men, and then men go out and spread the good news to men again. And then choose a man heir, since men are more associated with men, so the heir would be men again, and then so the circle goes around. Because Hindu women would never try to be assertive and to show their greatness from within or without. If there is a Master already, there is one, enough. She is contented to cook chapattis, to grill potatoes, and to clean the house for whoever her husband brings home as guests.
When you go to an Indian household, the wife always cooks, cleans after you, and does everything to make you comfortable, while the husband will treat you as good as a guest, and converse with you, and try to entertain you in an intellectual or spiritual level. The wife would clean after your feet even! She’d clean after the food that you left on the floor and make everything comfortable for you; never speaks to you if not spoken to. So, this is some of the very good qualites of the Hindu women that I would like to share with you, which I cannot learn yet.
Luckily, I don’t have a husband, so I don’t consider it any more. Well, when I learned all these qualities, it’s too late. My husband already picked up another one. And perhaps both of them are struggling to learn still. So it saved a lot of my problems and time. So now I can sit here and talk all kinds of universal [things] to you. Otherwise, what do you think? I’d be in the kitchen right now cooking chapattis. Maybe he’s sitting here but don’t know what to tell you.
Alright. So now, let’s come back to the over hundred ways of practice. After Devi has asked this meaningful and deep question, Shiva lovingly replied. So what does He call Her? Now the first answer. “Radiant one!” Woah! You don’t even call me that! You only call me SUMA. “Radiant one!” Maybe in America you got “apple pie,” “ketchup one,” or “French fry,” “Kentucky French fry.” While talking about this, I have a joke for you. Should we have a joke or should we come to this? Joke, huh? OK, joke. We still have that to come to, don’t worry.
There were many neighbors living together in one block, a complex. And one of the wives complained to her husband thus, “Look here! All of our neighbors’ husbands call their wives such sweet and romantic names. And you never call me one like that.” You know the story already? No? How come you laugh then? Don’t laugh so soon. You’ll probably cry later, if it happens to apply to you. So the husband said, “What? What did they call their wives? I never heard anything!” So the wife said, “The one who lives on our right, he calls his wife ‘apple pie.’ And the one who lives next to him calls his wife ‘sweet cherry blossom.’ The one who lives left to us calls his wife ‘rosemary.’” You know rosemary? It’s a very fragrant kind of spice you put into your food. “And the other one, next to him, calls her ‘my lovely pizza.’” Still on and on. “Other people also calls her ‘my bonsai,’ ‘my precious bonsai.’ And the other one calls her, ‘Oh, my diamond, my flawless diamond.’ And you, you never call me anything so sweet and romantic like this!”
So, the husband shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, but the one who lives on the right side, he is a baker. And the one next to him...” What did he call her? “Cherry blossom,” huh? OK. “He is a gardener. He plants cherries. He’s Japanese. And the one on the left calls his wife ‘rosemary,’ he sells herbs!” You know, herbal things! “And the other one who calls his wife diamond, because he is a jeweler. I am a shoe repairer. I can’t call you my ‘broken shoe.’” Yeah, it’s good that he is not a coffin maker, because you know… “my solid coffin.” You know, where they bury the dead in? “Solid coffin.” So make sure not to force your husband too hard. In case he’s not in a right profession to give you the sweetest name that you desire. Now, but you can tell your husband to learn from Shiva, the God of Destruction.
Alright. Shiva was very liberal. He wore snake(-people) and all that around His arms, and He chose man’s genitals for a kind of a symbol of the universal reproductive force. But what He actually meant is this, all the world was created by a creative force. It’s not the Truth. It’s not the Highest Abode of humankind, of the souls. The Creativity, the Force of creation which create the universe, came through Maya. So, in the old times, to talk about Maya and Creativity, He had to use a very crude object, like a man’s genitals just to let the people at that time know what He meant. How can He philosophize with them in that time, when all people know is something very crude, very primitive, very down to earth, a very daily-life-like example?
In each period of time, the Master had to live, teach, and make people understand according to the people’s level of consciousness and of progress at that time. You should understand clearly. And so, don’t compare and say why Moses allowed people to kill goat(-people), and [Supreme] Master Ching Hai says, “No! No! No! No!” Now we don’t have to say that anymore, because nobody kills each other. Don’t kill, even pig(-people). Don’t kill, even chicken(-people). Because it’s not necessary to tell them don’t kill human for sacrifice anymore, not in Taiwan (Formosa), or not in the places that I have been for preaching, no? OK.
So now, the first answer Shiva gave to His wife, His companion, His lifelong companion is this, “Radiant one! If you’d like to experience the illumination, you can concentrate between the two breaths.” Between when the breath comes out and comes in, in this between time then you will have the benefit of the illumination. Of course, what He meant is you must concentrate. When you probably… Because in the daily life, this is not one method alone. Although you can do that, but we should use all these 112 [ways]. We should use it in different circumstances in order to concentrate our mind. So sometimes, if you remember, I have also taught you, during daily activity, you should always remember your wisdom center, and repeat the Five (Holy) Names. But should you forget… even every activity, you should concentrate, but it’s very difficult for you, so you concentrate on the Five (Holy) Names, even while you are working.
But you should not concentrate on the physical breath, but in between. What He meant between the two breaths – one comes out, and one comes in – is that the non-breath, the non-breathing being, that’s what we should concentrate on. That means we should always remember the Almighty. The One without breath. The One for Who breath is not necessary. The One that breath cannot touch. Etc, etc... This is only for the one who already understood the way of practice. It’s not to go out and to teach the lay members of the society to concentrate between the two breaths. Of course, concentration of any kind brings benefit, but not to the extent as if we know where to concentrate and what to concentrate on. Is it clear? (Yes.) OK.
So, in our daily activities, we have a lot, a lot of work to do, so sometimes it’s very difficult to just remember the wisdom center. So, in case you cannot, or in case you have to concentrate on your work, then there are ways we can convert work into practice. That’s why the Buddha said there are 84,000 ways of practice. And none of them is not a practice, not a spiritual practice way. And here Shiva, to make it short, He can’t just sit there and... list 84,000 ways of Dharma practice, so He made it 112. That should be enough for you, and for us, for me. So, what He means by “between the breaths” is remember, remember the non-being, the non-physical being. So, when you remember, I tell you don’t concentrate on the breath. And do not pay attention to the physical sensation during initiation. You remember? OK.
So that is what He meant as well. That’s why He said, “Concentrate. Remember the One between the breath.” Not that we concentrate between the breath only; continuously so. Because He was afraid perhaps if He told you – I suppose, maybe I’m wrong, later we will know… Later maybe we read some more, and then I will tell you more. There are a lot of things to read, and we are only at the first one yet. I’m afraid if you concentrate on the breath, you will make it like a rhythm. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. And later, suddenly someday, you’ll experience a state of non-breathing, and then you probably won’t know where to turn to for concentration, to go further than the breath rhythm. Then you get stuck there.
Photo Caption: “Keep Self-Decent-Appearance Even in the Wilderness”
