Let me talk about why there was a war in Vietnam. Since having moved to the United States, I had gone to Vietnam one year. As soon as I stepped off the plane, I told my welcoming party that "The Vietnamese suffer so and they will suffer even more in the future!" The person who came to welcome me did not agree, he said, "Vietnam is fine. It is very peaceful. [Our President] Van Thieu Nguyen tells us that we have at least another five years of peacetime. Five years is not too short of a time. Lots of money can be made in that time." I told him, "I am afraid people will lose their lives before they earn lots of money."

When Vietnam was lost on January 14, 1975. I had come back to the United States from a trip to Vietnam and other parts of Asia. I telegraphed one of my disciples on January 15th. The war was only in central Vietnam then. I told her, "You and your husband should pack your bags quickly and make arrangements for everything. Come to the United States quickly. Do not stay in Vietnam any longer." She's someone who hardly cares about anything; she wouldn't care even if the sky fell or the earth sank. But her husband is not so calm by nature, he called to ask me, "Venerable Master, what is going on? Why do you want us to come to the United States soon?" I couldn't very well say over the phone, so I only said, "It is nothing much, just come to the U.S. soon. The sooner the better. "On March 10, she came to the U.S. alone. Actually she did not' come to the U.S. because I told her to but because March 12 was her daughter's marriage. She came to give her daughter away. Meanwhile, her husband was still in Hong Kong, and buying lottery tickets at that. Those obsessed with money buy lottery tickets; those obsessed with movies buy theater tickets. By mid-April, her husband was on the phone for three days looking for me, "May I go back to Vietnam now?" Saigon was not lost yet, the conflicts were only happening in central Vietnam. I said, "If you can go back in three weeks, then go back. If you cannot then, do not." Two and a half weeks later, Vietnam fell completely. That is why when I got off the plane I said, "The Vietnamese suffer so!" This is the reason.

Let's delve into this reason more. Many Vietnamese believe in the Buddha too, so why did they have to suffer like that? I heard a lot of refugees who tried to escape by boat drowned in the oceans and many were lost too. Of course, some people also escaped the clutch of death by reciting the name of Guan Yin Bodhisattva. Why did the Vietnamese face such a grave disaster when so many of them were Buddhists? Let me elaborate: the Vietnamese are very violent and they have a strong desire to kill; they are the cause of this disaster. Also, the Vietnamese have huge tempers. This is another cause for this disaster. Without a hot temper, there would be no disasters. Buddhists should lose their anger first, because where there is anger, there is conflict.

Earlier, someone said, "For hundreds and thousands of years, our bowls of stew have created resentment as deep as the sea; if we ever want to know the reason behind wars in the world, try listening to the cries at midnight by the butcher's door." This kind of hatred is difficult to relieve. I have changed a few words in the latter two lines so the verse now reads:

For hundreds and thousands of years,
Our bowls of stew have created resentment as deep as the sea.
If we want an end to flood and fire around the world,
We must not kill.

In ancient times, people fought with knives, guns, swords, halberds, arrows, spears etc. but now we're in the atomic age where we use cannons and atomic weapons. Cannons belong to the element fire while atom bombs belong to the element water. Therefore, to avoid disasters such as flood and fire in the world, everyone must avoid killing. If we were to refrain from taking other creatures' lives, there would be no catastrophes as a result of water and fire. If we insist on killing, wars will never end. Since people are eating more meat, [their debt is larger.] for instance, one person does not eat just one pig now, one eats lots of pork. Consequently, many pigs will come and hunt you down, getting you to pay them back with your life. However, you can only repay one creditor but not others, hence wars are launched over this kind of injustice.

In short, those of us who are learning about Buddhism must: 1. Never get angry; and 2. Never take another's life.