Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Costa Rica, February 9, 1991 (Originally in English)
I hope that one day the world will be without
frontiers, so that neighbors can come and go to neighboring countries,
have a cup of tea, drink a cup of coffee, talk together, and go back
home on the same day or in the same week without any problems about
documents, without any trouble, without any interference from policemen,
and all kinds of terrible bureaucracy. There should never be any refugees
at all, let alone people refusing them. Every person should have the
right to travel where he or she wants, and to make a living where it
is suitable and favorable to his or her condition.
Until that day, our world will remain in suffering,
conflict and war. We should not bother to ask ourselves why. The reason
is very obvious. It's because we are possessive. We think, "This
is mine, this is ours, this belongs to us." We have forgotten to
whom all these things belong. We have forgotten that God is the only
King, and we do not act according to the rules of this almighty King.
We never think in this life. Everyone just takes care of him or herself.
Even if people have too much to eat and too much to drink, they don't
give it to their neighbors in need. Therefore, war is inevitable.
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai
Berkeley University, California, U.S.A. October 13, 1989
(Originally in English)
If we did not eat meat, no one would
kill, no one would raise cattle. All the food would stay where it is,
and they could eat it and become healthy and strong. It would be good
for every nation and good for our nation as well. We waste a lot of
money on arms and on raising animals. All the arable land, or most of
it, is wasted nowadays on raising cattle, pigs and the like. If we used
these areas to cultivate wholesome, healthy food, I think the nations
would benefit more and our nation would have more peace and there would
be no need for armed defense.
If every nation lived according to the Bible, according to the Buddhist
teachings, Thou shall not kill, Thou shall not steal, etc. then the
world would have no more need for peace conferences and would not need
to waste so much coffee, champagne and cake at round table discussions
that go nowhere. The more we talk about peace, the more war we have.
It is because we go about it in an inconsistent manner. If everyone
practiced meditation and ate a wholesome diet without any killing involved,
the world would long since have been in a peaceful state and we would
have no hunger.
There's no need to give away your property; just give up the meat-based
diet. That would be enough to save the world, as well as your own and
the nation's health.
