- "At times when I cannot teach you directly, I have to do it through other people -- fellow practitioners or your spouse. Therefore, when you go home, carefully observe every situation, listen, and watch carefully wherever you are, then you will be enlightened, and understand something. I am always educating you, but you also need to have a clear mind to perceive it. Otherwise, you may deceive yourself."
- "What is the spirit of Zen? It is to enjoy today, to do today. No matter happiness or suffering, it is all today. Understand? Don't bother about the past. The past cannot be retrieved, alas! The future is not here yet. But very few people will devote their attention wholeheartedly to the present moment. That's why everyone suffers so much."
- "If you truly believe in your goodness, in what you are doing, you will influence other people. So one person makes a lot of difference. But if you don't believe, they will influence you. They'll try to make a strong person out of your personality."
- "Sometimes we have the illusion that only a prosperous life can give us peace of mind, make us happy, and let us practice spiritually. This is not the truth! When we are happy and have peace of mind, we can pursue spiritual practice under any circumstances; it has nothing to do with being wealthy."
- "Try our best to pray for this world, for ourselves, to protect ourselves, our morality, purity and the eternal power within ourselves. This is the only way that can save ourselves."
- "The organizing ability of human beings can never surpass God's will. If we are not sincere, do not practice spiritually, and are impure in our actions, speech and thought, then no matter how well we plan, it just won't work."
- "Sometimes, people's faith and longing for the Truth are stronger in more difficult situations."
- "Why it is useless for most people to read the sutras? Because they only look for good rewards, for magic power, for their prayers to be fulfilled. They do not do it out of respect for the holy sutras, out of eagerness to understand how hard ancient people practiced, out of the spirit of learning from them. Therefore, it is useless."
- "To be a noble being is the only choice; to walk forward, it doesn't matter how difficult; to fly upward, it doesn't matter how far, or how high. We just have to try again and again."
- "God gives us children to remind us to be good teachers, because there is a child waiting for you, waiting for your help, for your guidance. God entrusts you with a child, a fresh soul in your hands, so that you can take care of him, polish him, and create a prototype out of him. Therefore, do not complain if you have children. They are your lessons in being a teacher."
- "Whatever we say creates a vibration; and accordingly, what we say, either good or bad, will affect us again in the future."
- "When we do something with concentration and spontaneity, the result will come out perfect. Because it comes out from God, from our real wisdom, from our real nature. Once we have some expectation or some pride in it, or some calculation in it, things go wrong."
- "When a Master comes to Earth, not only are the disciples uplifted and shown wisdom, but the whole race of humankind is purified and uplifted to a certain higher level of consciousness."
- "God is our true self, with all wisdom, beauty and virtues. And these are the true qualities of human."
- "A few obstacles are good for us. They gives us the incentive to strive; our willpower will thus grow stronger and our determination to seek the Truth will also become firmer."
- "If we truly seek the Truth, we won't mind any surroundings, and we can go through anything."
- "If everyone in this world would share with others what they have in excess, then peace and happiness would reign in the world. There would be no more war or theft."
- "We may be imperfect as human beings, but our perceptions must remain perfect at all times."
- "Heaven is here and now. Anywhere you go, make it a heaven. If you're happy, it's happy. If you're not happy, even if the situation around you is very merry, very boisterous, you will still feel miserable."
- "Cowardice and fear have trapped us in the cycle of transmigration for a very long time."
- "When things are going smoothly and easily, be particularly concentrated; don't take it for granted and lose your humility and penitence. Otherwise, you will become sluggish and slow down, and will not progress further."
- "If one could deal with matters according to the situation at the time, in a manner, whether soft or hard, bitter or sweet, all from one's heart, with sincerity and honesty, without any complicated concepts, then the world would be fine."
- "Everything in this world is just a reminder of the true happiness, the true glory and the true life that we should have and that we should know, because we have forgotten."
- "Death is not to be feared. At the time of death, we only fear that we have not learnt our lessons."
- "We are not the body, we are not the human beings that we think we are; we are Wisdom, we are love, we are extreme holiness."
- "Afraid of being criticized and judged by other people, you swallow your anger. This is not compassion, or gentleness. You are not doing this for the good of that person, but only for yourself! This is selfishness, not being a gentleman, not being a nice person."
- "For us, this feeling of fear is the most terrible thing. We should dread this fearful feeling, for it is this fearful feeling that makes us fear."
- "If and when we feel that our life is not going smoothly, we should understand that we have formed undesirable affinities in the past; therefore, we have to strive hard. If we have good affinities, we should also understand that we have done something good in the past; therefore, we must cherish them. We must strive persistently until our mind is entirely stable, absolutely uncaring about anything, not attached to any situation, and until nothing in this world can bind us. Then it is truly good."
- "Why are the Enlightened Masters capable of doing anything? It is because They are always in a state of concentration, focusing Their acts, speech and thoughts on whatever They are doing, and at the same time being omnipresent."
- "The most important and also the most difficult offering is to offer a special and gentle atmosphere to other people."
- "If we still demand something, or our heart is still attached to a certain place, we will be used by the King of Maya. When we have no more fears or demands, and we are content with anything we have, even if we have nothing, then there won't be any more traps. And we will not be afraid of any turmoil."
- "Maitreya means happiness, loving, love. That is the Buddha with love, who brings love, who brings happiness to people. Whoever does that is a Maitreya Buddha, and you yourself should be a Maitreya Buddha, bringing love and happiness to people. That's the way of a gentleman, the way of a big strong man."
- "Do everything for your family, your society, for yourselves. Don't wait for people to make your life better and brighter. Make your life yourself. You can do anything."
- "You have to understand that in order to have fun, you have to keep the rules and maintain discipline."
- The Master is more than just kind. Oh friends, I could never have enough time To tell you Her boundless Grace. Only in the remote corner of my heart I humbly shed tears! There is none in this world, Who is so full of Love and Mercy. It would be my great honor To be just a swallow, Standing on one leg, Life after life, Singing Her praises! ~ Quoted from 'The Silent Tears' by Supreme Master Ching Hai
- "The theory of reincarnation should not be taught, because we don't have an entity to reincarnate. What reincarnates are perhaps these clinging tendencies to the information we got, whether bad or good, and then that clinging tendency will go and find one instrument after another to satisfy our longing that we did not complete from our previous so-called birth. After the knowledge, the Wisdom or God-self that resides in this body leaves this temple, he or she will pass to another temple."
- "The various manifested forms of the Buddha, the Bodhisattvas, the Goddess of Mercy, Maria, Jesus, etc. are all from one Power. They are ever changing in order to suit the tastes of sentient beings. They speak different languages in order to liberate sentient beings in various corners of the Earth."
- "Whether you improve or not you can see by changes in your character, the broadness of your mind, and the expansion of your magnanimity. That is real improvement, your real level."
- "We should be as magnanimous as the creator. Since Hes can accommodate it all (all of creation), why can't we tolerate the thoughts of our relatives, friends and people we know? We should be able to do the same to attain the Anuttara- Shamyak-Sambodhi, the highest dimension, the highest level."
- "Simple living means staying where you are and enjoying what you have. This, in my way of thinking, is simple living."
- "True repentance is not just knowing our mistakes, nor is it saying that we won't make the same mistake again. It is correcting what we do, doing it well, and then doing it better."
- "If we currently have some vicious quality, we need not continue to blame ourselves, but just correct it. Because if we don't correct it, it is not good for us, regardless of the reason."
- "Only when we meditate on God, have direct contact with God through the Light and Sound, do we know. We know everything without even learning from anyone, without reading books, without reading newspapers. We understand profoundly, and everlastingly."
- "It's important for us to have virtuous friends, those who are kind and good, and who can talk with us about something good everyday, persuading us to go in the right direction. Then we'll walk on the right path and become better and better. Our good qualities will emerge and grow, and become more apparent. We'll know better which direction is the right one."
