Q: Why are there demons?
A: The demons in our self-nature attract the ones outside. The demons of our self-nature are greed, anger and delusion. They are the poisons of our self-nature and attract external demons.

Q: How can we avoid meeting any obstacles as we study Buddhism?
A: We will encounter obstacles when studying Buddhism. The difference lies with your power of samadhi. If you were to have the powers of samadhi and wisdom, you would be able to resolve quite easily any problem that comes your way. It would not become a problem for you. If you were extremely stupid, a mosquito bite is a problematic for you and a punt by a fly is problematic for you.

Q: Someone says that so-and-so is a devil and that he should be kicked out.
A: It's precisely because he's awful that I'm trying to teach and transform him. I'll leave the good people for that "someone" to convert.

Q: How do I get rid of the quandary that's been on my mind for a long time?
A: Did you see that person just now? He is full of greed, anger, and delusion. He spoke Dharma for us by appearing.

Q: Birth, old age, sickness, and death in our present life are weighed down by the obstructive karma from our past lives. Most people do not know that the problems that they experience are a result of unwholesome deeds that they've done in their lives gone by. Such people always feel that they get sick for no reason. Isn't this a rather severe punishment for these people?
A: Who told you to be born as a human being?

Q: Christianity talks about how people join their family members in heaven after they die. What does Buddhism say about this?
A: Since they can reunite in heaven, how do you know they will not have a reunion in hell?

Q: What's the difference between saving human beings, ghosts, and demons?
A: Why would you ask if they were the same?

Q: 1. How can we be good laypeople who balance their work and cultivation? 2. Can lay cultivators have romantic relationships?
A: Quit acting like a monk if you want to be a layperson. Quit acting like a layperson if you want to be a monk. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

Q: How can we bring peace to our society?
A: We should start with education, teaching children to be filial to their parents and be loyal to their country.

Q: According to Buddhist scriptures, Lord Shakra of the Triyastrimsha Heaven is the same as the Jade Emperor that Taoists talk about. However, Taoists rejects this parallel. Taoists say that the Jade Emperor and all Daluo Golden Immortals are outside of the wheel of birth and death, therefore it's impossible for them to be in the Realm of Desire and to wage war against asuras. Will the Venerable Master please tell us the truth?
A: This issue is an unsettled lawsuit. An idiom goes, "An honorable judge can't settle family affairs." Well, this Dharma Master can't settle such religious affairs. Each religion claims that it is the best as it espouses its own principles. Actually, they're trying to scratch an itch on their foot through their boots. They're like the blind men who were feeling the elephant to figure out what it looked like. Do they know how tall, how big, and what color is the Jade Emperor? Do I know? Do you know? I believe there is no proof to any of this.

Q: Where did Guanshiyin Bodhisattva come from?
A: Ask yourself where you had come from.

Q: May I ask if I should recite one mantra or many mantras? Which mantra is more beneficial?
A: You can't benefit from them. They are equal, not better or worse. One is many and many are also one. You must concentrate when you recite many mantras so that they will be efficacious. If you can concentrate on just one mantra, then it can be more efficacious too. It is because you're greedy that you say you want to recite more mantras or Sutras. Greed is the trouble-maker.

Q: How do we handle being reborn?
A: How can you be reborn anywhere when you carry so much garbage with you?

Q: What was the Buddha's attitude toward life?
A: One of compassion, joy, generosity, and equanimity.

Q: Every time the United States became involved in a war, there were always anti-war demonstrations. Master, what is your view on war protests?
A: War protests are just another war. Soldiers used to be anti-war demonstrators.

Q: How do we support Buddhism?
A: To support Buddhism, you should make some quiet observations. Proceed if the act will lead you to enlightenment; otherwise, back away. Sometimes you create merit and virtue by donating money; but sometimes you create offenses by doing so. You should think things over.

Sangha members cannot have money; once they do, they will disobey their code of regulations. With your financial help, they will overeat, drink, prostitute, and gamble. Give them more money and they will return to lay life. Without your help, they would have continued to cultivate. In particular, it's enough that Sangha members who live alone just get an adequate amount of food.

Q: I am so stupid! 1. I can't penetrate my own mind. 2. If I am not careful, I fall asleep when I meditate. How do I overcome these two problems?
A: 1. It is not so easy to penetrate it (especially in only two or three days). 2. It is better to be asleep than to be false thinking.

Q: Is there any difference between your method of meditation and that of Ajahn Sumedho? If so, how are they different?
A: "There is only one path at the source, but there are many expedient entries." For instance, people's faces look differently; but we are all people and our minds are the same. You can't make everyone uniform in every respect. The same principle applies here.

Q: Buddha talked about having less desire. Please give us a clear explanation on this.
A: We're content if we have fewer desires. We're always happy if we're content. If we're always happy, then, no more worries!

Q: Does fate really exist? Do people have the ability to control their own fate?
A: Superior individuals know that they can create fate.
I determine my own destiny and acquire my own blessings.
Disasters and blessings enter only because people sought them out;
Wholesome and unwholesome retributions, however, follow us around like shadows.

Superior people create and change their destiny whereas most average people think that everything is predestined. If you have faith and perseverance, you can leap from the level of an average person to the level of a Buddha. If everything were predestined, we could very well get our fortune read before we even start to study Buddhism just to see if we have a chance at becoming Buddhas. None of the fortunes and misfortunes in our lives are set in stone. If you are an extremely good person or an extremely bad person, your destiny will be different from the average person because what you have done has gone beyond the bounds of an average person.

Q: How do we pay off our debts?
A: Dedicate the merit and virtue that you develop to your debtors so that they may leave suffering, attain bliss, and leave the cycle of life and death. We have to settle our debts.

Q: When we hear a nice song, can we offer it to the Buddhas or Bodhisattvas? How do we offer it?
A: You can sing it, but you need to be sure that it isn't sexy. It has to be proper. At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, we also present Buddhist songs to the Buddhas. For example, the praises that we sing before the Buddhas are songs of offering. The Dharma Flower Sutra makes it very clear that melodic songs and incantations can be offerings for Buddhas.

Q: How do people who work in the area of law save others?
A: They must be fair, incorruptible, and accept no bribes as they serve the public.

Q: My entire body aches with pain and from sickness, what should I do?
A: Our body is not real. Cultivators do not ask for a healthy body. We become greedy with desire when we're robust.

Q: How do we maintain the mind that is unaffected and "just as it is" at all times?
A: "Just as it is" means that it is in accord with the Dharma and the rules. To not accord with the Dharma means to act against the rules. "Just as it is" means being unaffected; by being unaffected, we can be "just as it is." If we are affected, we don't even need to talk about being "just as it is."

Q: It just so happens that the third week of next month will be the Master's birthday. Could we hold a birthday celebration for you?
A: You could celebrate my birthday by reciting the names of Earth Store Bodhisattva and Guanshiyin Bodhisattva 10,000 times every day. Can you do it? This would be a real birthday celebration. Birthdays are better left to the gods than to people.

Q: Will the Master please be compassionate and teach us?
A: Recite the Buddha's name more often!

Q: We own some businesses in Taiwan. How will the political situation affect us? What is the future in investing in mainland China?
A: As businessmen in Taiwan, you should love and be loyal to that country. Use your wisdom in running businesses to help the country. Many people in Taiwan have lots of assets, but few are patriotic. The Taiwanese who invest in China are speculating and not being patriotic. Doing business that requires no capital during this sensitive time means that there's the danger of losing everything.

Q: I heard that the Venerable Master always sit up to rest instead of lying down? How did you learn to do it and what is the purpose?
A: Nobody told you that I always lie down to rest instead of sitting up? There is no set rule for this. If you want to sit, then you sit; if you want to lie down, then you lie down. It does not matter whether others say you are sitting up or lying down. Why should we be attached to something like this? Anything that we're attached to becomes a burden to us. The important thing for us cultivators is not to be troubled at any time, whether sitting up or lying down. It is important to get rid of afflictions.

Q: Is Guanshiyin Bodhisattva in your range of consideration?
A: Who said he is not?

Q: The Dharma Flower Sutra says that we could get rid of greed, anger, and delusion by reciting Guanshiyin Bodhisattva's name often. Please tell me how to recite his name for immediate results? (An employee of China Airlines asked this question.)
A: By flying.

Q: 1. How do we make ourselves becomes bold and vigorous? 2. How do I overcome the habit of eating well and sleeping well? (A beautician asked these questions.)
A: 1. By beautifying yourself. 2. By not eating, which will lead to not sleeping. The less you eat, the less you sleep.

Q: How do I start to recite, memorize, and understand the three Sutras of Shurangama, Flower Adornment, and Dharma Flower? With which Sutra should I start first?
A: You can start with any of these Sutras. Their Dharma is equal; there's no better or worse. If you think to make a choice, then you are having idle thoughts and essentially, you don't understand these Buddhist Sutras. Learn the Sutra that you want to learn, there's no particular order.

Q: What does it mean by this saying, "We should give rise to the mind that is nowhere dwelt?"
A: Tell me, first of all, where is your mind?

Q: What is the difference between entering samadhi and sleeping?
A: During samadhi, you are very aware while you're sitting straight up. Your body does not move around and your head does not lower or tilt. This is the state of being still and yet always reflecting, reflecting and yet always still. When asleep, you are not at all aware, you snore thunderously, and your position is completely the opposite.

Q: What is delusion?
A: Delusion is when we don't feel that we're deluded.

Q: Venerable Master, what should we do with the rest of our life so that we may leave suffering and death and at the same time live happily?
A: You will be happy if you are not afflicted. You're unhappy because of your greed and discontentment.

Q: How do I get rid the unwholesome karma from my past, accumulate wholesome karma, and realize Buddhahood soon?
A: You should do nothing evil and do everything that is good.

Q: I am the only one in the family who is studying Buddhism. How can I eliminate the obstacles so that the entire family become Buddhists and benefit from the Dharma?
A: Just do things sincerely and they will naturally be moved to change.

Q: Why did you say that contemporary Taiwan is similar to the era of Ling An during Southern Song Dynasty?
A: At that time, those generals and high-ranking officials did not get along, which led to the fall of the country. In this small country, two political parties are now fighting each other and everyone from top to top is in it for their own interests. The Democratic Progressive Party and the Nationalist Party compete in every respect; they fight like barbarians. And as the saying goes, "That which is valued by those above is valued even more by those below."

Q: Under such circumstances, what can we do now?
A: You should be virtuous. "No fighting, no greed, no seeking, not being selfish, no self benefiting, and no lying" are essential principles for human beings, the foundation for cultivators, and the keystone for politicians. If the latter can act according to these principles, they can take care of the Communist Party. The Communist Party has been successful in taking advantage of people's greed. They claim that China has no class that is rich or poor, but the reality is that they don't practice what they preach; members of their elite are as wealthy as kings. Bribery, corruption, and bureaucracy are rampant within the Communist Party. Money is their motivator; underground connections is their mode of operation. Everyone of them is extremely greedy and ambitious. In summary, harmony will be ideal for both sides; destruction will ruin both.

Q: Some people say that the Dharma Master is a monk who interferes with politics.
A: I feel that Taiwan may be in a dangerous situation, but most people are still in the dark. Being Chinese, I have to do something about it. People with power can't stop me from saying what I want to say. For example, when I said "contemporary Taiwan is like Southern Song," people only look down, but not ahead.