Q: As a housewife, I often violate the Precept Against Killing without intending so. What should I do?
A: I'm a little ant too. It's okay to kill me, but you absolutely must avoid killing an ant.

Q: How come some people have dreams about the Master even before they meet you? Is it that they have affinities with you from the past? Or is it that the Venerable Master emits some light that makes people dream about you?
A: I don't have that much light, that much gasoline. Cause and effect is the reason. People have affinities with others. Those who have deeper affinities with others will recall impressions from their past. These past affinities unveil themselves of their own accord. Many people are delighted to see me, especially children, who will do everything that I tell them. In Northeast China, without being told, some teenagers used to prostrate, bow, and do all kinds of things when they first see me. Some people would cry when they see me; some would be ecstatic. When asked why it is that they cry, they say it's a feeling like children who have been lost and apart from their parent for a long time. They feel as if they have finally come home after years of suffering. They let out their pent-up angst and have a good cry when they know they've come home. There are many, many different situations, but I don't' want to tell you about them. If I were to tell you, you all would cry too.

Q: Are you talking about causes and conditions from past lives when you mentioned earlier about how people have seen you in the past?
A: Possibly, who knows?

Q: Do you lay disciples need to meditate?
A: You can meditate whether you're a member of the Sangha or laity. Nothing is mandatory. For instance, monastics eat and so do lay people.

Q: Do we need to breath when we meditate?
A: Don't you die if you don't breath? You have to be natural. Don't suppress your breathing on purpose.

Q: The Venerable Master's cultivation can affect dragons and gods. We suggest that the Venerable Master save all our fellow citizens who have suffered in the last several hundred years.
A: Ghosts and spirits who had died several thousand years ago have all arrived here at the Protecting the Country and Quelling the Nation Guanyin Great Compassion Dharma Assembly. The deceased have been ferried over to the shore of liberation. You just don't know about it. I know you find what I am saying now unbelievable.

Q: Can anyone make the resolution to save the deceased in the ten Dharma Realms? Or will this be effective only if done by enlightened, virtuous Sanghans?
A: Of course virtuous Sanghans who are enlightened can do this, but everyone save the deceased in the Ten Dharma Realms too. By being a good person, you are saving the deceased.

Q: May I ask the Venerable Master as to how a student in school now should study the Buddhadharma?
A: Students should focus on their schoolwork. You may try to soak up some Buddhdharma when you're not studying; but it would be wrong to focus only on the Buddhadharma only and not your coursework. You must balance the two so that you don't overemphasize one aspect. Young people often make the mistake of neglecting their studies to study the Buddhadharma.

Q: Will the Venerable Master please be kind and compassionate and ease the suffering of the Chinese.
A: That is a vow of mine. I am willing to take on the suffering of every Chinese and I dedicate to them all the blessings that is meant for me.

Q: How do you explain, "The sentient and insentient together perfect the wisdom of all modes"?
A: The sentient and insentient refer to sentient beings and non-sentient beings. What are insentient beings? They're plants. Plants have their nature of life but not any emotion. Anything with blood and breath is sentient. "Together perfect the wisdom of all modes" means that all of them will realize Buddhahood. No computer can figure out who will realize Buddhahood first or last.

A: How do we propagate the Buddhadharma in the United States?
Q (by a disciple): To end greed, anger, and delusion. To diligently cultivate precepts, samadhi, and wisdom.
A: Elaborate. That's too vague.
Q (by a disciple): To not fight, not be greedy, not seek, not be selfish, not pursue self-benefit, and not lie.
A: Right, that's it.

Q: Uh oh, so and so is leaving, who is going to be translating in the future?
A: There's nothing that has to be done by someone; there's nothing that a person has to do.

Q: May we request that the Venerable Master come to Taiwan often to propagate the Dharma? Taiwan has so many monsters, demons, ghosts, and spirits.
A: I want to go to the Republic of China often, not Taiwan.

Venerable Master: Tell me, is it better to write with a piece of white chalk or black chalk on the blackboard?
Disciple: White one.
Venerable Master: Should we use a larger or a smaller piece of white chalk?
Disciple: One of average size.
Venerable Master: Who else would say that? Why do you say a piece that's of an average size? Tell us!
Disciple: A large piece breaks easily. A small piece is difficult to handle. We can write with a piece that's medium in size.
Venerable Master: Do you see me with a large piece or small piece every time I write? Or do I use a medium-sized one?
Disciple: A small piece.
Venerable Master: Then I must not write well?
Disciple: No! It's just that the Venerable Master wants to be frugal.
Venerable Master: What is that? It means to cherish and use anything that can still be used. Only when something cannot be used anymore do we stop using it. We do not waste anything.

Q: Should lay people cultivate the Six Paramitas all at once or according to a specific order? With meditation, for one, should we wait until we have reached a relatively more advanced state before we cultivate Dhyana samadhi?
A: All dharmas are equal; there's not one that's better or worse. Don't make the distinction that a state is more or less advanced. Don't create differences and categorizations. Just do what you ought to do in the situation you are in. No one is required to do anything. There's no first or last, no better or worse; they're equally important.

Q: Master, you said that you had started to bow to all living beings since the age of twelve. Is this a vow from your lives past and you have returned to this world again for this lifetime?
A: I can't prove this, so I can't respond.

Q: Things such as typhoon, earthquakes, or wars occur because of the collective karma of people at a specific location. Since these people have done the same things as individuals, they collectively face the retribution of their past acts. Given the point of view that cause and effect do not change, how could the Master's vows and prayers weaken the karmic consequences that living beings must face? Master, from whom does the power of your vows come? Is it yourself? And to whom do you pray?
A: I ask the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas from the ten directions to change a certain situation. Although fixed karma is said to be unalterable, it has no standard definition either. [More specifically,] we say, "Oh, this fixed karma cannot be changed.!" But how do we know that something is fixed karma? How do we know a premeditating murderer would not act if we were to talk to him nicely? How do we know two countries at the brink of war would not put down their weapons if someone were to facilitate the two? How do we know that our tumor would not be non-life-threatening if a doctor were to apply medication to dissolve the toxins? If any of this is possible, then this is the way things are. If any of this is impossible, then no patient will look to the doctor for a cure.

Q: If everyone were to have this kind power to their vows, then none of us would need to bother the Master anymore.
A: Right, why don't you have this kind of power to your vows?
Q: Is it a must?
A: If you were to do that, then there would be more proper energy in the universe, more energy that is kindness.
Q: Please pump some gasoline into me, Master.
A: Gasoline is available any time, anywhere. You can buy it for free.

Q: The Master is so powerful. Could you make a vow to make our country rich, that is, mainland China. Because Taiwan is very rich while many of our fellow countrymen in mainland China are still suffering?
A: Once they've suffered enough, there will be no more suffering. Sweet rewards comes after misery. To undergo suffering is to relieve one of suffering; to enjoy blessings is to end blessings. This is my philosophy: anything that reaches its extreme will turn the other way; anything that gets bad enough will turn into something good. It's okay. Whatever it is that all of us need to face, we will face it; once we've experienced it, there will be no more suffering. Don't worry. Don't worry about anything, like the sky falling down. Just do a good job studying.

Q: Should we visualize how the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas with billions and billions of transformations?
A: When you cultivate to that level, you will naturally transform into billions and billions of bodies. You don't need to visualize.

Q: Master, why don't you have any attendants?
A: I really can't help it! If my attendants were Chinese, then my American disciples would be unhappy. If my attendants were Americans, then my Chinese disciples would be unhappy too. If my attendants were male, my female disciples would be unhappy. If my attendants were female, then my male disciples would be unhappy too. If my attendants were young, then the older ones would be unhappy.

Veneerable Master: Do you know why you've got a hunched back?
A disciple: I don't know.
Venerable Master: Because [you've got a chip on your shoulder.] You're always thinking about other people's reaction to everything that you do.

In Taipei, a prominent Buddhist monk came to see the Venerable Master for the first time. The guest was nervous and just as he was hesitating as to what to say, the Venerable Master bowed down as soon as he saw this monk. . . little would have the monk have guessed.

Q: Why can't we leave any space empty when we're standing in the Buddha Hall?
A: People who come early should move up and not leave any space. There will be future retributions for your standing in a disarrayed fashion.

Venerable Master: What kind of kashaya (precept sash) is that person wearing?
A disciple: Venerable Master, that's not a precept sash; that's a large scarf.
Venerable Master: Tell him not to wrap it around his neck that way.

Q: Homosexuals contract AIDS because those of the same sex contain agents that clash with one another. How exactly do they act counteract each other?
A: The basic element for sperm is positivistic. If the male element enters the female body, yin and yang will neutralize each other. If this male element enters another male, it turns into toxic poison.

Q: To what religious school do you belong?
A: The one-meal-a-day school.

Q: What should we do with kitchen staff who gossip?
A: We will eat food made of gossip.

Q: Master has eyes in his palm!
A: Not just in my palm, they're in every pore.

Q: Is qigong (a martial art that uses qi, our energy) a form of meditation?
A: There's no energy to martial arts.

Q: Then why are there books about qigong?
A: Those books contain only general descriptions because they really don't understand. They even get some terms mixed up so that the labels don't fit their content. There's no martial art for energy, it's not called qigong. It's martial arts for monsters. It's martial arts for demons because practitioners enter demonic states. It's martial arts for ghosts because these practitioners shake and tremble. Yanxing [A famous qigong master in China] also says, "This is martial arts that is self-initiated." Most of you have no idea and don't know what's it's all about. When a practitioner begins to shake, a ghost is taking possession of that person who has no samadhi power. Most people think martial arts is an internal practice, but they don't understand at all! People who practice the martial arts of spirits are able to prophesize. Spirits' martial art does not require shaking and trembling because they have some samadhi and are calm.

An illustration of the spirit is the extending of one's arm. It's not our energy that orders it to extend it, but the spirit of the mind that is the commander. Since people in China are forbidden to talk about spirits, ghosts, and monsters, they don't know that they're practicing martial arts associated with spirits, ghosts, monsters, demons, etc. Consequently, qigong is the name for all these practices in general. Qi has no sense of awareness and cannot function on its own, so how can it be a martial art? It scatters as soon as it leaves our body. Most people don't know about this and call it qigong, qigong. They may die from qi but they're still into their martial arts.
Q: But there's qigong in Taiwan.
A: They only understand a bit; they can't even get the terms straight.
Q: Master, you're so awesome, is there any way you can change it?
A: The ghosts see me and run away.

Q: Everyone in China agrees that Yanxing is the best qigong master and there are masters who are even more excelled in this art but have not yet made themselves known.
A: He said his teacher is several thousand years old. I say my disciple is several thousand years old. This is true.
Q: This great qigong master is a vegetarian, isn't that a form of cultivation on his part?
A: He eats witchcraft.

Q: May I ask the Master if you have taught people who are not your disciple a meditation method that is convenient?
A: To learn this method you must first cut off desires and end love, and then practice sitting in the full lotus posture.

Q: It's easy to become attached to demons while cultivating Dhyana. Although the Pureland practice is very steady, it's very slow. Is it better practice Dhyana or Pureland?
A: Although the Pureland and the Dhyana schools are two different routes, they end up being the same path when one is successful. All dharmas are equal, there's not one that's better or worse.