It’s very difficult to be a Buddha in this world. Not that the Buddha has not already been a Buddha, but it’s just that He has to come down and make affinity with other sentient beings in order to come back as a Buddha, and then when He has enough Power, He can liberate them. That’s why. That’s why some Masters go back and forth – from Nirvana back to the Earth and then back to Nirvana again – and suffer a lot, a lot, a lot, untold suffering. But nobody can see… not much. Whatever you can see, if you think you can see a Master or a Buddha suffer, that’s just the tip of the iceberg only. There’s nothing much you can see, because most things happen inside, in the spiritual realm, and outside just very little. We did not hear much of the Buddha’s suffering, we heard only some, like He had to eat horse feed for three months because of the disciples’ karma, and He had to lose his toe once because of Devadatta, His ex-disciple.
Oh, there’s nothing you can imagine that would not happen to a Master. That’s why in the old times, some Masters didn’t accept a lot of disciples, because They worried about this type of unloyalty, which could harm Them. Even the Sixth Patriarch Hui Neng, when He received the jiasha (monk’s robe) and the bowl from His Master, He had to run away because the other disciples of the same Master, the Fifth Patriarch, also ran after Him and wanted to kill Him to take back the jiasha, the monk’s robe that symbolizes successorship. So that’s why the Fifth Patriarch told the Sixth Patriarch, Hui Neng, that after this, “You don’t pass on the successor’s mantle and bowl – the symbols of successorship – to anyone else anymore, so that we don’t have to have this kind of war within the same ashram, within the same Master’s system even, that could kill people.”
The jiasha – the outer robe of a monk, a symbol for successorship – before that was a symbol of the Holy path to enlightenment, of compassion, mercy, peace, and all that beautiful language that you can find. But even then, instead of respecting and obeying the Master’s order, no, they wanted to run after Hui Neng and kill Him. What kind of monks were they? Can you imagine? So, in every system, every lifetime, we have this kind of war among those of the same religious belief, even the same church, the same temple, or the same order, or the same country even – doesn’t matter. Always there’s some war like that. But it’s not the robe that will make anyone a successor. Because if the Master doesn’t bless them – whoever takes that robe of successorship – they will never be anything.
Just like Devadatta – he got a couple of hundred people following him, maybe two hundred, more or less. Maybe these people never even heard of the Buddha. That’s why they didn’t follow the Buddha. Or maybe they were so thick, they couldn’t understand what the Buddha’s teaching was. And they just judged Him from the outside: He looked like Devadatta, just wearing monk’s robes, and even had less strict principles for His monks than Devadatta. Devadatta tried all kinds of things just to win, to make more asceticism prevalent within his group, so that people would think, “Oh, this man is more holy, more strict, because the Buddha still cares for this and that.”
The Buddha cared for nothing! What for would He care for anything when He already left His richness, luxury and future kingdom. What for would the Buddha still want it? Even if He did, He could go back to His kingdom and His father would give Him everything. But no, He only visited His father sometimes, to teach Him something. And when His father died, He had to do the filial duty of the son. How humble He was. But then they only looked outside because inside they didn’t have any holy experience. That’s why. It’s not like everybody who goes to the same teacher will get the same enlightenment, same level of attainment. No, no. Some are even still at the devil’s level, because that’s why they came there – just to make trouble for the Teacher, for the Master. Just like Devadatta, or Judah in Christianity under Lord Jesus.
The reason why good monks, good priests, holy monks or holy Masters are being even more slandered, more degraded, more hated and more in danger is because the bad monks, bad priests all worry that this Master will take away their followers; then they’ll have nothing to eat, and nobody will come to make offerings to them. They shouldn’t worry. In this world, there will always be ignorant people who follow the bad monks, bad nuns. Or because these monks and nuns or priests are also evil incarnate, the people who are also evil or ignorant will follow them anyway.
“Excerpt from ‘Shocking News’: Ủa thầy?!? (Huh, teacher?!?) People sh*t on the head, sh*t on the head, sh*t on the head, sh*t on the head, sh*t on the head of Buddhism, sh*t on the heads of monks and nuns, and sh*t on the practice and study of Buddhism.”
There will always be something for any monks or priests to have in order to survive. It’s just that you shouldn’t ask for extraordinary things or more richness or luxury. Then you always will survive. You shouldn’t worry about that. How many monks and nuns live in the jungle, in the big mountains? And they practice day and night. They’re still OK! And also, not only that, but the bad monks, priests, and other normal people also maybe are being possessed by demons, so they couldn’t know the real thing anymore. So they always provoke somebody else to fight. They like it. They have this aggression in them from the demons’ influence, or their own character is like that. And others may be more quiet, but they don’t like the famous, holy monks or Masters because They make them feel small.
Not that the Masters go and fight with them or do anything to them; They don’t even know them. But they just slander from afar or in absence behind Their backs or anything, and just spread all bad things about Them. Because they feel small; they feel inferior; they feel worried that these holy Masters or good monks will make it clear, obvious, that they themselves are bad. So they worry about these Holy Monks. And that’s why they hate Them and they do all kinds of things in order to eliminate Them or make Them tattered, and to confuse the faithful who want to find the real Master for enlightenment and liberation. That is the thing.
So, being famous, holy, doesn’t guarantee you at all to be better off than a fake master or bad monks and nuns or anything. It’s just whatever you can do to help others to elevate themselves and to be liberated by God’s Grace and go back Home to the real Kingdom, to the real House, then you just do it. That’s all.
And Lord Jesus knew that He was going to be crucified; He still went down to the cruel world, and tried to help. You see, that’s why so many people had been elevated into sainthood in His lifetime. And His influence, His teaching, still continues until this day. Billions of people follow Lord Jesus – I mean, even if they’re not truly sincere, they respect Him and follow Him. And they know that His teaching is correct, even if they are not strong enough to follow. Same with the Buddha – even though the Buddha is no longer here in the physical level, billions of people follow the Buddha’s teaching. They try at least. Some do follow and become morally fit, a saint even, or at least good monks and nuns or good followers. So, it doesn’t matter.
In this world, everything is so dangerous, especially if you’re famous and beloved by a lot of people. Then you need to watch out all the time. Even then, you never know if you’re safe. It’s just human nature that they’re jealous. And when they feel they are threatened to lose their fame or their profit, then they become more aggressive, and you could be in danger.
Many Masters have died. Just for what? They didn’t do anything wrong – just helping others to make society a cleaner, purer place, to make the world more livable. But They died anyway. Even in some small corner of the world, in Âu Lạc (Vietnam) recently, two or three Masters disappeared. The Ones I could remember are Master Huỳnh Phú Sổ and Master Minh Đăng Quang. Both of Them were holy people, selflessly sacrificed all the time just to teach people good things, and just tried to follow the Buddhas to do whatever a Buddha should do. Even if people don’t believe that these two Saints were Saints or Bodhisattvas or Buddhas, at least they can see that They did nothing wrong. They only did good. But still, there were some elements leaking somewhere and sneaking somewhere that killed Them, made Them disappear, no trace. Nobody can find Them. Nobody knows why.
And we remember also Master Nguyễn Thành Nam, the Founder of Nam Quốc Phật, Nam Quốc Buddhism, or Coconut Buddhism. He has also been killed for no reason – nothing really that’s a reason for Him to be killed. He was just asking for peace for His country’s people. He was just suffering to see people having to die needlessly, brutally and unnecessarily. So you can see the reason three Masters have been murdered – either in secret or, like in the case of Master Nguyễn Thành Nam, openly in front of some of His disciples.
“Excerpt from ‘Venerated Coconut Monk – A Turbulent Life of a Distinctive Monk’ – The adventurous life of the Venerated Coconut Monk: The Coconut Monk presented a coconut to the US President because, if you look closely, you will see a symbol of peace on it. The letter the Coconut Monk sent to the US President was a petition. He wanted President Lyndon B. Johnson to lend Him 20 giant transport planes to take Him and His disciples, along with supplies, to the demilitarized zone on the 17th parallel that divided Vietnam into two hostile sides at the time. There, they would set up a prayer pavilion right in the middle of the Bến Hải River. He would sit there, praying for seven days without eating or drinking. On the two riverbanks, 300 monks on each side would pray together with Him. He assured President Lyndon B. Johnson that this plan would bring peace to Vietnam. No one knows whether the letter ever reached President Johnson's hands, but everyone knew that the Venerated Coconut Monk had never given up on His dream of bringing peace to Vietnam.
According to the Law Newspaper, after [1975], the government no longer permitted the Coconut Monk to practice His religion. Sometime later, He attempted to escape the country but was arrested. It wasn’t until 1985 that the authorities allowed the Monk to return home. At that time, He weighed less than 40 kg. In May 1990, after His disciples secretly brought Him to take refuge in the home of one of His followers in Tiền Giang province, the police came to find Him there. It is unclear how the confrontation between the two sides occurred, but the one who died was the Coconut Monk. After the murder case, the People's Court of Bến Tre province tried His disciples on charges of resisting officials on duty, with severe sentences. The details of this case as well as the death of the Coconut Monk were not widely published by the state media. John Steinbeck wrote in his memoirs: ‘The last time I saw the Coconut Monk, we did not say goodbye. At that moment, He wiped away a rare tear from His eye, but then He smiled again, and He raised His hand to point towards the sky where He lived.’”
That should scare everyone who is truly doing good things or loving the world people, and trying to protect them or help them to liberate their souls with the true, sacred and noble Teaching.
Photo Caption: Reaching Out to Nice Neighbors With Pretty Greeting
