Selected Questions and Answers





Meditate and Realize that Life is Only a Drama

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai, International Three-day retreat in Los Angeles, California, USA, December 16, 1998 (Originally in English) Videotape #639a


Q: I wonder if You can help me with the choices I have to make about what happens in my life.

M: Well, what happens is what we normally make of it.

Q: So, we have a choice?

M: Yes, we do. We are God or at least we’re God's offspring, but we have to choose with a strong power of conviction. I made my choice and you can make yours. I could have stayed home, cleaned the floor and cooked meals for my husband forever until I dropped dead. But I chose to do it differently and I made it. So, since I’m a small person and make smaller decisions, you can make bigger decisions because you’re bigger!

Q: So it's still true that we're in this illusion, but we have a choice about what we make happen?

M: Oh, sure, because since it’s an illusion we can change it at any time. If it were a solid, unchangeable or real thing, it might be difficult to change. But we can imagine it's an illusion so we can always play around.

The problem is that not many people can see through it as an illusion and get caught up in it, but enlightened people aren’t caught up in it even though they might look like they are. They can see from different sides and choose to play along with it or choose to change. So, if you don't like your future, change your present because if you don't change your present, you know that the future outcome is inevitable.

It’s very easy! Do anything you want and don't worry about it as long as you don't hurt other people or do anything that's bad. Because even though it's an illusion for you, it might not be an illusion for the person next door. You can still do anything you want but society will not forgive you, and then people will make trouble for your conscience; you know that. Otherwise, nothing can really bind us; nothing is a must in this world. There is nothing we must do and nothing we should do. Everything is OK.

For example, if you’ve ever gone to the movies you might have seen Clint Eastwood being shot by someone and then he's dead. But when you go home you know that he is not that person. Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise or whoever is someone else, not the person in the movie. When you see him on the screen he is that person and it seems very real then. But when you take a minute to think about it later, it's truly just a play, just a drama and this is very clear.

Similarly, you can see this life just as clearly as you see that movie, and if you haven't seen it that clearly continue meditating and think about it until you are that clear. Then you are enlightened, big time.