Q: How can someone learning about Buddhism calm his mind and have a sense of peace in mind?
A: Why don't you first take out your mind to show it to me?

Q: What are the conditions for leaving the householder's life?
A: There are no special conditions except: to be vigorous and make progress, not to be lazy, not to spend one's life by waiting around for the next meal, not to take advantage of relationships, and not to wait around for donations.

Q: Can people be possessed by spirits?
A: Please ask someone who is possessed by a spirit this question. I am not possessed by spirits. Even if I knew the answer, I would not talk about this.

Q: Master, what motivated you to become a monk in the first place?
A: Why do you want to know about my becoming a monk? You want to dig to my roots that have been long gone.

Q: My second question is, why is your Dharma name Hsuan Hua?
A: Why do you want to know about my name? This is a ghost from hells!

Q: There are many things in this world that you won't get if you don't fight for them. But the Master talks about "no fighting, no greed, and no seeking." How should we give and take here?
A: When it is mealtime, we should eat; otherwise, we should not eat.

Q: How do we develop our children's wisdom?
A: If you were not deluded, you would give birth to children with wisdom.

Q: Master, please have pity and compassion for me. My entire body aches from illnesses. I have not recovered despite having undergone several operations. I have a broken family. I have gone through so many tragedies in my life. I beg that the Master advise me. I hope that I will be blessed by sunshine. Amitabha Buddha.
A: Amitabha Buddha! Why ask me about this when you're the one who have slaughtered a huge number of pigs?

Q: Why don't Buddhists understand the Proper Dharma but pursue psychic powers zealously? How come today's Buddhists actually care even more about money?
A: Because people nowadays have fallen prey to the poison of money.

Q: Why isn't there a Dharma Realm for demons?
A: The demons are like bandits. They wander everywhere like a team of guerillas, having no permanent place to live or anyone to manage them. Demons are a grouping similar to bandits. Bandits are human beings, but since not everyone is a bandit, there is no realm for bandits.

Q: What is more important, to save myself or others? Which is of higher priority?
A: Neither one is more or less important; they're of equal importance. It is a mistake on your part to want to differentiate them by order of importance.

Q: When I recite the Buddha's name, I sometimes forget everything, including breathing. Is this a form of drowsiness?
A: Wouldn't death be better?

Q: What is the difference between monastics and cultivators?
A: How are they the same? Ask yourself how are they similar or dissimilar? Wouldn't you understand that way?

Q: Besides being vegetarians and shaving off our hair to cultivate, are there other routes to realizing Buddhahood in this very life?
A: One gets an instant high from smoking opium, but being addicted becomes hard to bear too. To become a Buddha, you must plant both feet on the ground, put yourself in others' shoes, and apply yourself in all earnestness. It is a big mistake if you want to cut corners.

Q: The Amitabha Sutra points out how the Pure Land in the West is so wonderful. Is it a form of escape or laziness to want to study Buddhism and recite the Buddha's name so that we may become reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss?
A: Buddhism contains 84,000 Dharma doors. The Buddha spoke about the Pure Land approach without having been asked. It is an inconceivable and incredible Dharma door. However, just because it seems incredible does not mean it is impossible.

Q: Will the future savior of China be a Buddhist?
A: Since he will be a savior, he will be considered Buddhist even though he may not be. The reason being that he will relieve humanity of suffering and attain bliss for humanity. If he were not a real savior, he would not be a Buddhist even though he might call himself one.

Q: There was a major earthquake in San Francisco. Will there be similar disasters in Taiwan in the future? How do we avoid them?
A: There will be no earthquakes if people don't get upset.

Q: Master, did you know ahead of time about the China Airlines plane crash on October 26? How do we avoid future disasters?
A: First of all, ask yourself if you knew about it or not. If you did, others would have too; if not, why would you want others to know about it?

Q: What is the origin of the three disasters?
A: Fires occur because of people's greed; floods occur because of their anger; and windstorms occur because of their delusion. These three poisons therefore create the three disasters.

Q: Could we kill the big mosquitoes and spiders we have at our house? We're afraid that they will bite our kids and jeopardize the lives of our small children.
A: Why are there big mosquitoes and spiders? You might have had some affinities with them in your previous life so they came to seek cover from you for their survival, or maybe they want to take vengeance for their grievances. Each of us may have been a mosquito or spider in some lives past. Now that we are human beings, they came to ask for their payments. Therefore, it is best that you don't kill them.

Q: How do people new to Buddhism cultivate and maintain themselves?
A: Eat, dress, and sleep.

Q: According to the law of cause and effect that applies to the three periods of time, are the "I" who will be receiving the effect in the future and the "I" who is creating karma in this life the same one?
A: "To know what we had done in our lives past, just look at what we face in this life." What happens to you in this life is a result of your deeds in lives past. "To know what we will face in our future lives, just watch what we do in this life." What you will get in your next life depends on what karmic obstacles you create in this life. For example, if you always kill, you will have a short lifespan in the future. If you always steal, you will be robbed in your next life.

Q: There is a lot of turmoil in our country now. What will become of this country?
A: You don't need to ask me this question as you all should know. You don't need to ask when you obviously know the answers.

The man who said these words, Tang Lyu, dared to kill a black cow and "report to past emperors and empresses that. . . I, as the emperor, is solely responsible for my people; any mistake that my people commit is my fault." He said that his people shouldn't be blamed because he is the one who will take the blame. If the populace had erred any, he says to please blame him as the emperor, for he did not teach them well. He alone will be responsible. This is how ancient sages and kings are. As role models and leaders, they are courageous enough to admit their mistakes and change. They accept other people's criticisms too.

Q: What are precepts?
A: Precepts are about the principles of no fighting, no greed, no seeking, no selfishness, no pursuing personal advantage, and no lying. Don't go looking for precepts in precept handbooks. It is something everyone can do and can practice.

Q: Why do I fear ghosts and spirits, especially at night? Are there really ghosts and spirits?
A: Someone in Malaysia asked me this question before. He asked whether humans are afraid of ghosts or ghosts of humans? My answer was that if he had ghosts on his mind then he would be afraid of ghosts. If he had no ghosts on his mind, then the ghosts would be afraid of him.

Q: I did not take the precepts despite having encountered the Dharma. I often kill. How can I make sure that I am committed to this spiritual path and repent for my past acts of killing?
A: Consider what's in the past to have died yesterday and what's in the future starts today. Your ability to change is already the first step.

Q: Someone was seriously ill from having a stroke. After a group of people helped him by reciting the Buddha's name, he recovered. Some say that he did not meet all the conditions for being reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Is this theory correct?
A: Since it is not yet his time to be reborn, he recovered. When his time is up, he will die. It is as simple as that.

Q: Can Buddhists trade stocks?
A: Some Buddhists murder, steals, engage in sexual misconduct, lie, and drink alcohol. Do you think they should be doing these things?

Q: Taiwan used to be a simple place, but people have become obsessed with the lottery, stocks, etc. Everyone in Taiwan now worships money. How can this situation be improved?
A: People should learn to be dumber. They play the lottery because they're too smart. They want to get paid without having worked; they want to reap a harvest without having sowed. This is abnormal.

Q: How come people in our family still dream about my father though he had passed away a long time ago?
A: It is because you family members have not forgotten him.

Q: Venerable Master, you had said that as long as you are in San Francisco, there would be no earthquakes. Now that you are away, an earthquake has taken place. What is the meaning behind it?
A: There is no meaning.

Q: Is there a difference between reciting the names of Guanshiyin Bodhisattva and Amitabha Buddha? Do they have the same effect?
A: By trying to make a distinction, you lose any possible effect.

Q: Can I bow to the Buddha statue at home though it hasn't been "inaugurated"?
A: Whether the statue has been "inaugurated" or not is not a problem. What matters is whether you are attached. Without any attachment, the Buddha statue has always been inaugurated. Otherwise, a Buddha status that has been "inaugurated" is the same as one that hasn't been.

Q: Where do our illnesses come from?
A: They come from the three poisons of greed, anger, and delusion.

Q: Master, I've quit smoking. Should I quit eating meat too? If so, all my faults will be gone.
A: You should reserve some so that you don't leave! Stay around! Continue to live in the Three Realms!

Q: I have recited the Buddha's name many times, but why haven't I eliminated my obstructive karma and reached enlightenment?
A: How do you know how much obstructive karma you have? How can we eliminate overnight our obstructive karma from time immemorial, that is, from billions and billions of eons ago until now?

Q: The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is too big!
A: The City is not too big, your mind is too small.

Q: What kind of attitude should we have when interacting with homosexuals, or what methods should we use to help them?
A: First of all, you need to understand how they became homosexuals. Why do they have this tendency? Perhaps it's because they had quarrels with their spouse. The Chinese are chauvinistic while in America, women come first. Some Americans may say "ladies first," but they don't really respect women. These slogans may flatter some women, making them believe that "ladies [are] first, ladies [are] first." But the fact is that men continue to lie about this and women continue to accept the lies. This kind of "first" is a "first" without power or status. This trend makes women uncomfortable and therefore do not want to marry. Men, on the other hand, became uncomfortable with overly domineering women. Hence, they wonder why they should marry.

Q: What is suffering and what is happiness?
A: What we are unwilling to do is suffering and what we are willing to do is happiness. If you are neither willing nor unwilling, then there is neither suffering nor happiness.

Q: What is the use of reciting the 42 Avatamsaka Syllabary?
A: The syllabary has a limitless amount of wonderful functions. It can eradicate all our karmic obstacles. Its power is inconceivable and indescribable.

The Venerable Master: Five hundred or a thousand years later, people from each side of the Eastern and Western hemispheres will be able to talk to each other directly without wireless telephones. Although thousands and thousands of miles apart, people will be able to converse with each other as if the other person is standing before them. They also will be able to watch all kinds of entertainment programs without televisions.
Q: Dharma Master, what kind of evidence do you have for announcing such an implausible prediction?
A: Of course I have evidence for it; otherwise, I would be violating the precept against false speech and I will fall into the tongue-plucking hells in the future.

Q: The Amitabha Sutra says, "Those living beings who have hear should vow, 'I wish to be born in that country.'" Since I don't want to be reborn, instead I want to jump out of the wheel of birth and death, I don't understand why I would want to be born at that country?
A: Good question! To be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss is to leave the wheel of birth and death.

Q: What is the reason behind burning paper money for our ancestors?
A: If this were reasonable, all the Westerners would be poor. You should look into the truth and never be superstitious.

Q: Human beings basically live in pain. How many people really live happily?
A: Who told them to be human beings? If God did, you should sue him and hold a debate with him.