Lecture by Master Vi-Kien in Germany (1988)

As we aim directly at our true consciousness, we will see our character. When we see our sins and our faults, we must rectify ourselves to attain Buddhahood.  

Even a king has to shave his head and devote himself to spiritual perfection.

What kind of means does a king lack? Why should he devote himself to spiritual perfection? Even a king shaves his head and engages himself in spiritual perfection.

Do you see it clearly? He holds the governing powers in his hands, but he stills devotes himself to spiritual perfection.

Because he sees that his position is not stable. If he cannot save himself, how can he save his people?  Even a doctor devotes himself to spiritual perfection. Why? He cannot save himself. He knows all kinds of drugs to inject into his patients, but he is not able to inject the medicine to himself. Eventually, humans must perfect themselves spiritually, so that they may release the karma in their hearts, and be able to pay back their debts on earth. What are our debts on earth? Our parents gave birth to us, Heaven and Earth gave us life. Food and clothing, houses and cars, humanity has provided all these means to us, but we do not return our gratitude.

Only through spiritual perfection will we be able to contribute our pure energy to harmonize with the universe. We will bring peace to our place of residence; we will be able to pay back all our debts. In contrast, with earthly matters, when you say that you use this money to pay for another money you owe, it is just the cycle of pay and owing, then you will still be stuck with something else. When you give with the right hand, the left hand will take it back. When you give with the left hand, the right hand will take it back. So, we will be stuck permanently. This is how business works. Only through spiritual perfection will we be able to resolve everything. Spiritual perfection means to use a method to release the impure energy and nurture the pure energy. If we only use words for spiritual development, but our heart does not devote itself to spiritual perfection, this is just a lie, a treacherous behavior (like that of an Asian koel bird). This is wrong. To perfect oneself spiritually means to rectify oneself sincerely. We must recognize our own faults to advance toward lightness and purity and discard our worries. When we still hide even a small secret, we are bringing dust into our consciousness. How can we have peace of mind? When we open ourselves fully, we will have peace.

I have nothing. And I will not repeat my mistakes. Only then will we have peace. When you open yourselves up and do not repeat your mistakes, you will truly have peace. Only then will we be able to save ourselves. Eventually, everyone must use this method to save themselves. If they do not use this method to save themselves, they will remain dependent on the external circumstances, and their misery will last indefinitely. They will be dependent upon rivalries and intransigence due to their four senses:  eyes, ears, nose and mouth. They will turn toward the external world, the beauty of the external world, then they keep discussing the beauty of the external world, and will only deceive themselves unknowingly. In reality, our own selves are the most beautiful. When we return to serenity and wisdom, we are the most beautiful. We will regain our sovereignty. If we practice spirituality but are unable to return to serenity and wisdom, we will not regain our sovereignty. 

When we regain our sovereignty, we will know which kind of people we belong to. We see that we are the children of God. Our self is unique among Heaven and Earth. Do you see all the clothing made by people around you? If your physical body is not nurtured by the pure energy of the whole universe, how can your mother give birth to you? Our self is unique among Heaven and Earth. Your physical body has been formed to house your soul. You are presiding in this physical body (micro-universe), which is similar to the macro-universe, but your strength is love and forgiveness. If you know how to forgive everyone, how to love everyone, your family will be very happy. You will no longer have worries. You will feel carefree, there is neither gain nor loss, you will always keep the middle path in order to ascend higher. Then you will not be hindered.

Our consciousness will always be open. When you know yourselves, you will be willing to sacrifice for others. If you do not know yourselves, how do you understand your value, your position, in order to sacrifice for others? Do you see it? Therefore, we must perfect ourselves spiritually.

We must perfect ourselves spiritually to understand our own position. The soul is the master of the body, not vice-versa. The physical body only generates waves of infatuation. The soul is principal. When you wear beautiful clothes, and have a beautiful hairdo, your boyfriend will be seduced by your appearance. This generates a wave of infatuation. The righteous side in ourselves is not like that. When husband and wife live together, they used to argue. They argue because there are conflicts among their righteous sides. Therefore, we must understand our righteous and unrighteous sides within ourselves. The physical body is external and temporary, this is not the truth. Only our true consciousness is real. Therefore, people persevere in their spiritual perfection. Why? In order to release their profane heart and return to their true heart. 

As we aim directly at our true consciousness, we will see our character. When we see our sins and our faults, we must rectify ourselves to attain Buddhahood. This means to provide spiritual salvation to all beings. When you are able to rectify your character, you will be able to provide spiritual guidance to others. This comes from your righteous character. Therefore, a Buddha is doing one task which encompasses all tasks until this day. However, people blindly recite the Buddhist scriptures without understanding what Buddha is teaching. So, they are not able to return to Buddha. When we understand what Buddha says, we will no longer be agitated. We venerate Buddha and practice like Buddha. We devote ourselves to make sacrifices and cultivate our spiritual virtue. Then, we will die gracefully with a peaceful conscience, and return to Buddha. Many people never devote themselves to spiritual perfection. They neither wear a monk’s robe, nor practice meditation, but they engage themselves. When they see difficulties, they jump in to help. They sacrifice their bad character and bad habits. They do not bear a grudge against anyone.

Love and forgiveness. Do you see it? They realize the spiritual virtue. Everyone shows love and affection for them. When they die, they will ascend higher. They will return to Heaven. Those who are light, will return to Heaven. Those who are heavy, will return to Earth. That’s all. If our consciousness is always heavy and impure because of rivalry and intransigence, how can we make progress? However, if our soul is always open-minded, when we see a flower, we see that it is also our friend. We understand that its life is short, then it will also evolve further. When we see a tree in a forest, we also feel the miserable situation of the tree. There is no happy tree, but we say that we want to look at sceneries. We have our own scenery that we refuse to look at. We have made many movies in our life, but we refuse to watch them. We were the directors, the actors, the actresses, but we refuse to watch. We only watch science fiction movies, while we disregard our own movies. Our own movies are also full of drama. There are love stories and all kinds of other stories. Only when we accept to watch our own movies, will we awaken our spiritual consciousness.

Once we have awakened our consciousness, we will accept to rectify ourselves and restore our order. When we restore our order, we will enjoy happiness. A person loses happiness because they have lost their order. When we return to order, we will clearly enjoy happiness. Therefore, people borrow the meditation method in order to restore their order. Then, they will plant the seeds of patience and resignation in their family, and change the agitated environment into a harmonious and serene one.