~Pearls
of Wisdom ~
The
Benefits of Group Meditation
Spoken By Supreme Master Ching Hai
Group Meditation, Paris, France
August 15, 1995 (Originally in English)
I
tell you to go to group meditation because here you have the truest
friends. Then, if you have problems, or maybe sometimes you make mistakes,
because of many friends, they can talk to you; they love and encourage
you. You will come back again to the correct direction. Having group
meditation is just like having an unconditional good friend or a good
beloved. We all grow together; we share together some problems and happiness.
This is very good for the human psyche, not even talking about spiritual
practice.
So
you see why we have to practice now, or why we must go to group meditation;
it is because we are weak. Sometimes we go alone and if someone tempts
us, we will fall. But if we go as two, three or four persons together,
and if we want to be tempted, our friends will say, "No, no! It's
no good for you. Come back!" That's why we must have friends to
practice together.
In
this life everything is like that, even with politics. If a man wants
to be president, he must collect a lot of followers who have the same
ideal as he has and who support him. Everyone knows that. Otherwise,
do you think one person alone could create a particular movement or
change the whole country? There must be a lot of people to support.
So, when we blame one person, we have to think more. It is a shared
ideal; it is a responsibility of a lot of people, not only one or two
men.
It's
the same with every ideal, the same with every goal we reach for. We
must have supporting friends to go the same way so that when we fall,
when we are weak, our friends will help or carry us. So, we must have
friends. That's why we must have group fellow practitioners to encourage
each other, because this is like a big family. When you come in and
meditate together, you also share the spiritual energy, not only the
mundane problems; and then everyone is just connected together. The
stronger ones help the weaker ones, and then we have less weaknesses.
We can come together at the same level. Everyone is happy. You are cleansed,
and you become happier and happier; and you feel lighter and lighter
every day.
Spoken
by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Singapore March 9, 1993
(Originally in English)
The
church, the outside church, mosque, and temple, are symbols of the kingdom
of God within us, which are built to remind us of our own temple, of
which Jesus said, Know you not that you are the temple of God and the
Holy Spirit lives within you?
I
think that the church and the temple are very holy, sacred symbols of
our devotion to God. Every time we pass through a church, a mosque,
or the temple of any religion, we should truly remind ourselves of the
reverence we have for these symbols of worship. It probably would be
better if the people who come to these temples, churches or mosques
truly could find their God within - within their temples also, not only
in the brick temple, but also in the true temple of God.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Hai Yai Thailand December 7, 1994
(Originally in English)
Just
sit anywhere - on the bus, in the park, in your living room, close your
eyes and do your meditation. And more importantly, have group meditation
every week. Maybe we can arrange different days for different people's
convenience, like one on Wednesday, one on Friday, or one on Saturday
and one on Sunday. Whenever there is a great occasion, then we can celebrate
and gather together in one place. If it's not big enough, maybe we can
try to look for a bigger place. Don't bother to build a mosque for me,
just a storeroom or something will do. So, you know now where the temples,
mosques, and churches come from - from group meditation!
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