Live a Noble Life

Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Anaheim, CA, U.S.A., April 3, 1993
(Originally in English)

Q: The key to a happy life, what does it really mean to You? I thought that the only key to a happy life depends upon you and whether you live your life the way you want it. Is this necessarily true?

M: It's not that we live our life the way we want that brings happiness. This most often brings disaster. If we live our lives the correct way, yes, then we are free. Then, of course, we will be happy, not because we do what we want. [Applause]

In everything, there is some judgment and some kind of definite way. For example, if we say, "I have a car, and I can drive anywhere I want," - that will bring problems. But if we drive within the proper roads and with the proper attention, then of course we'll be at our destination very fast. If we run all over the place, we'll bring trouble to ourselves, even though we call that freedom.

Freedom without discipline will bring disaster, and the way many of us lead our lives brings misery, as you see all around you. Therefore, there is a definite way to lead our lives in order to have true and lasting happiness. That is the life of a gentleman. That is a life of the sage who does things according to the Universal harmony and not according to the dictates of the restless mind.