Over in Taiwan (Formosa) or in the US, life gets boring, nothing much happens. The world is peaceful like the Pure Land, you get bored, so you come to this Saha world of Cambodia just to hear gunfire; to poke around and see whether a landmine will explode or not. So you Aulacese (Vietnamese) from Âu Lạc (Vietnam) don’t go touching things recklessly, alright? It will explode! I’m telling you. It will explode! Don’t test it. Touch it and it will explode. And even if you see something, don’t dig it up, you hear me? It’s not a sweet potato that you can just dig up. It might look like taro or sweet potato, but don’t go digging randomly. No one has planted anything here at all. You can bring seeds over here to plant them. And if you really need to dig, call people who have the proper equipment or machines, detectors, and so on. (Yes.) They scan back and forth first, and only then dig, understand? (Yes.) Don’t dig around carelessly.
Hearing that one dug-up landmine can sell for four US dollars, you feel very tempted. How much is four US dollars in Aulacese (Vietnamese) money? (Forty thousand. Forty-four. Forty-something thousand.) As much as forty-something thousand? (Yes.) Oh, my goodness! That’s very rich already. Every landmine dug up, you get forty-something thousand, then you’d get rich very fast. No wonder people of all ages are led over here, coming in droves. Don’t be tempted, OK? Before you can get any money from that, you may already go see your ancestors. Mind yourself, hear that? Stumbling around. If you want to dig up sweet potatoes, there’s a row on the other side. They’ve only just planted them, so the potatoes are still very small, just thumb-sized. You’ll have to wait until later to dig it up. If you’re hungry, just go into the kitchen and dig up some sweet potatoes to eat. They bring back lots of sweet potatoes every day, you can dig up as many as you like. Don’t go digging landmines recklessly, hear that? (Yes.) Hearing that they are four US dollars each, and you’re tempted. Rushing over here like the old days, when people went off searching for gold. They rushed over to dig for gold.
Wherever you go, look around carefully. (Yes.) Don’t venture into places that haven’t been trodden before. Let people pass through first, before you walk in. If you wander around, I can’t guarantee anything at all. I also don’t dare go anywhere either. So I stay indoors all day, just wearing high heels and saying, “With heels like this, I can’t go anywhere anyway.” Just walking around here, saying, “High heels are very hard for me to walk around.” Actually, it’s because of fear of landmines. We are afraid of landmines. So when you come here, even if you once were an official or whatever, just forget it. It’s been a long time, you forget your skills, so don’t dig recklessly. Even if you’re a mining engineer coming here, don’t dig around recklessly. Those engineers who graduated from the US, mining and digging landmines are two different things. If you dig carelessly, I wouldn’t even know how to compensate you or your families. By that time, you wouldn’t be able to receive the four US dollars. When you lie there with your eyes shut, even they give you four, five US dollars, you wouldn’t be able to receive it.
Does Âu Lạc (Vietnam) not have landmines? Âu Lạc (Vietnam) doesn’t have landmines? These past few years, there’s nothing left, right? (Yes.) There hasn’t been any gunfire or anything, right? (Yes.) So it’s too comfortable. When coming here, you thought it would be exactly the same. Last night, hearing the gunshots, did it make you miss home? (No.) Didn’t miss it? (No.) Home is here now, so what is there to miss, right? Coming to see Master Ching Hai feels just like being at home. How much longer will you stay before going back? How long? (Yes, a few days.) Just a few more days. (I’ll be going home at the end of the month.) You’re staying until the end of the month? Alright. Stay however long you’re able to; no problem, just make sure it’s legal. (Yes.) As long as there’s still rice in my kitchen, feel free to stay. Once you see the rice is nearly gone, better get ready to leave.
Because there are all kinds of nationalities here. There are quite a few Chinese people here and they eat a lot. As soon as you hear the meal bell ring, rush over. If you let the older brothers and sisters go first, there won’t be anything left at all for the youngest ones. At that point, the government wouldn’t be able to help either. Did you see how fast the older brothers and sisters run? They are professionals. When you come here, you young girls shouldn’t act pretentiously: “Wait. Wait for me!” Who is going to wait for you? After stuffing themselves full, then they come, standing there, saying, “Wait for me.”
Have you been eating well these past few days? (Yes, we have been full.) Oh, really? So the older brothers and sisters were kind enough to leave you a bit? When coming to my place, you can’t be shy. If you eat, eat until you’re full. When you run, you have to run quickly. When you see food, run first. If there’s water to wade through, then be last. Because you older brothers and sisters are big and strong. Let the long-legged go first, if anything happens, you see it, so you stop; don’t wade in. As for eating, you older brothers and sisters are professionals. So there’s no way for us to act like guests. When you come here, you’re the host, not a guest. If you end up hungry, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’ve said it already, again and again: when you come here, you have to fend for yourselves and not act like guests. “This is my Mother’s house, so I just come and eat.” There’s no talk about who’s the guest and who’s the host, understand? (Yes.)
If you don’t get food, and even being whiny, then you’ll just have to bear it; no one here spoon-feeds anyone. There’s no pampering around here. You see, even the little kids running around fighting to get food. Because they wait and no one feeds them so they run to get it for themselves. So if anyone has children who couldn’t grow up and have short legs, bring them here for me to raise. Bring them here and let them go hungry for a few days, their legs will grow longer. Their necks will grow longer too. Waiting so long, their neck stretches out. And their legs grow long so that they can run into the kitchen to fight for food. Around here are older brothers and sisters, so if you don’t fight for it, they will. You younger ones don’t stand a chance… So the kids who come here grow up really fast. It’s like circumstances create heroes, you know? There are many kinds of heroes – even heroes of eating.
Have you seen the long-necked giraffe(-people) in Africa? Why do you think their necks are so long? Let’s contemplate this kōan. Meditate on it. Why do giraffe(-people) in Africa have long necks? You know why? Because they have to compete for food. Just like the kids here. Why are they tall? Because down below, all the small leaves get eaten first. (Yes.) And now, in the tropical forest, sometimes when it’s dry and lacking nutrients, it can’t grow properly, so it just grows tall up at the top instead. (Yes.) As the tree grows taller, the deer’s neck stretches just as much. It keeps stretching and stretching until it’s almost as tall as the tree, see? (Yes.)
The situation is such that they have to eat to survive. And because they must eat, they have to stretch their necks. It’s exactly the same here. So basically, if your kids are skinny, not growing, and won’t eat – just bring them here. I guarantee that within a month their necks and legs will be long. They’ll grow really fast – like blowing into a papaya stem. Even the elderly ladies who come here get healthier and plumper, see? Their teeth grow back too. False teeth. False teeth are still better than no teeth at all. Because we’ve got dentists here. (Yes.) Anyone who comes here without teeth ends up with teeth again. The old ladies who were sick, whose children said they never seemed to get better, yet when they come here, they run around just fine. Here, everyone is busy running around; no one takes care of them, so they have to take care of themselves. Once they do that, they become healthier and more independent. Suddenly their blood circulation becomes good; they eat well and sleep soundly. There’s background music at night to rock you to sleep. So the elderly ladies who come here all look rosy-cheeked, their hair completely white.
Some people say, “Ever since I came here, Madam Thanh Hai blessed me, and I immediately felt stronger, see?” Why would I bother giving any special blessing to exhaust myself? Carrying that tin food container all day. The tin container. Going around asking for food until they were completely out of breath – so, naturally they had to eat a lot. If they don’t eat a lot now, later they won’t even have the energy left to ask for more. The elderly can’t run as fast as the youngsters, so they have to make sure they eat plenty and get good sleep. If someone can’t sleep well, they’ll even have gunfire “music” in the background. Background “music” like last night. That’s because some of the elder ladies couldn’t sleep, so it turned out that way. They were afraid you’d get bored. The soldiers on both sides are afraid you elderly folks will get bored here, so they make offerings. They’re offering it as background “music.”
Some ladies even ask each other, “My goodness, what kind of strange music is Master playing here today? Is it a new CD?” Just lie there and listen wherever you are, OK? Don’t go running around. Even if the “music” sounds soothing, don’t run out, alright, folks? This “music” is from “the other side.” It’s not our music, so don’t wander out to listen. (The “music” gets lively.) You might think fireworks are going off and run out to dance and have fun. Wherever you are, just lie there and listen, understand? (Yes.) Out here there are no bunkers, nothing at all. So just stay where you are and lie still. Running around would just be a waste of effort. It’s all the same wherever you run to. (Yes.) Running from one tent to the other tent it’s all the same. Remember this. There’s really no other way. However you go about it, it doesn’t make a difference. All the tents are made of thin plastic, running back and forth doesn’t change anything.
Last night, did anyone get scared and run around hugging this person and that person? So scared you ended up… Grabbing onto anyone you ran into, right? “I’m so scared!” Did that happen? (No.) It means you’re quite good. You’re making progress in your spiritual practice day by day, becoming more courageous. As for me, I’m still very scared. I’m really scared but I don’t know where I could run to. So I just lie there and accept it. I lie there, hoping you all will protect me. Because everyone says that each of you has the inner Master who is very miraculous, and I feel happy hearing that. So remember: whenever you hear gunfire, pray to the Buddha within yourselves to bless and protect me. (Yes.) I’m really afraid! I’ve been afraid since I was little up until now.
You can’t escape fate – running here doesn’t change anything. Back then, I was proud of it. People would ask, “Oh, were you a refugee?” As soon as they heard we were from Âu Lạc (Vietnam), they’d ask, “A refugee?” I replied, “No, I didn’t have to flee. There was ‘trouble,’ but not ‘fleeing.’” “What? Not a refugee? Then how did you get here? “Because I had already left before any ‘trouble’ came.” I left before that. Forgot. So wherever I went, I’d boast, saying, “I’m not a refugee. I came here earlier. I was clever.” But clever or not, it’s the same now, I’m in Cambodia and hear gunfire too. If nothing’s wrong, there’s peace; if something happens, you’ve got to pack up and run. But it’s alright, this country is becoming more and more peaceful now, right? (Yes.) Just a little unrest here and there once in a while just to warm things up a bit. (Yes.) Because they want to welcome you coming over. Like attracts like. Back then, some of you also carried guns and ran around, shooting loudly and all that, so now karma circles back.
I got caught up in it for no reason. All my life, I’ve never shot anyone. Back then I practiced using a slingshot, but I missed every shot. It was just a children’s slingshot, some kind of toy gun. (Yes.) A kind of “gun” made from bamboo (A bamboo stake/pole.) (Yes.) You know? (Yes.) The inside of the bamboo is hollow; you put a date pit or some kind of seed inside, then you push and it goes boom. It makes a sound like that, a “pop.” If it hits you, it actually hurts, so you be careful. Oh! It stings your face if it hits. (Wow!) It swells up into a lump this big, but it won’t kill you. At least it wasn’t so bad – but I missed every time. Yet whenever someone shot at me, they always hit. Because I was naïve as a child. I was tricked by the boys. All of my cousins were boys. If you don’t go along with the toy guns and all that, they won’t let you participate. So I had to carry toy swords and wave them around wildly too. Only if I acted just like a boy would they let me join. (Yes.) If you’re not like them, they won’t play with you. I was lonely. The lonely Buddha went looking for those kids to play with.
Photo Caption: “GOD Takes Care in the Wild!”
