Good evening. So, how is everyone? (Good. Fine.) OK? (Yes.) The Mexican’s still here? (Yes.) So who is the rescue team this morning? Come here. What did you do? Report. So, everybody can hear you. Give him a microphone. How many people this morning? (We had about… Microphone.) (Master, we had about 30 people working this morning. So, we started working around 11 (AM) o’clock, and we had everything assembled, all the toys and…) Where did you give the toys? (We gave it to the disaster center in San Juan [Capistrano].) And where is it? (It’s down on [State Road] 74.)
(They’re really in demand of... such things like toys…) I know. (And they didn’t say anything about for us to make delivery ourselves. So, we have to depend on them, through their organization.) Do they have enough manpower? (I would believe so.) Tell them you’d like to volunteer to work. (Yes. I did ask them that we volunteer. We have men here who volunteer to work in any city that’s affected by the fires.) With them. (With them, right. And they said, “Just make a list and give me your phone number, your name.”) OK. (“So in case we need it, we can contact you.”) Alright. Give them. It’s OK if they work, if they do it effectively and quickly.
Because they work according to a schedule, sometimes. Eight to five, and then weekends off, and all that. I don’t know when the victims will get the things. So, make sure you ask them whether they will deliver it fast. (Yes.) Otherwise, we volunteer manpower also. (Yes, Master.) It’s not good to buy things and just put in the warehouse. (I did ask one policeman who’s in charge of giving the information out to people interested in donating items to the affected fire victims. And he said, “You had to do it through the organization, and no one would be allowed to contact the victims directly because they’re in the state of shock, frustration, anger and are upset.” Something like that. So we try to work...) Well that’s why we want to contact them. (That’s right. I tried to explained to him, but…) That’s exactly why. (That’s correct, Master.) OK.
Of course they can’t just let anybody come in. But an organization like us, who is helpful and has no motive, they could have let us in (Right.) to help them. Never mind. So, today I also declared the state of emergency. Tomorrow, you don’t have group meditation in the morning. Because I’m reported that the people, the victims still need a lot of things. Especially the children, they need toys. So, in this state, toys are as good as food. Maybe even better, especially for the children. So don’t criticize.
I know some people will think, “My God! Their homes burned down. They should think of the basics like food and clothing!” That we bought already; we bought clothes also. But now they said that is enough what we delivered, they said it’s enough. So, they ask for more toys for the children. So, it is natural, and toys are good for the children. It’s better than food for them even. Because it calms them down, makes them feel secure and loved. So, don’t think that this is kind of a waste of money. It’s not. It’s not always that food and material things are important. It is mental security that’s important. Therefore, I will ask you to work tomorrow morning. Whoever can, work with him to try to buy more, more and more things – the more the better. Whatever they need, we buy. (Yes, Master.)
And you help with the delivery and packaging and all that. Try to be quiet and organized wherever you go and make the list quickly. Whoever volunteers to help in such a manpower system: Register your name and telephone number. And give to him. But you have to know when you’re available. Just put night or evening, or what time. Otherwise, people keep calling you and you’re not there. Maybe just make one or two representing groups. Like 10 persons have one group leader. And then he just contacts that group leader, and the group leader contacts you. So, tomorrow morning, no meditation. (Yes.) But in the evening, yes. It’s better also for me, because I work all day with all these things and extra other things. So, it’s better in the evening. So, you come back again in the evening. OK? (Yes.)
No morning meditation. But afternoon, we have that schedule, it’s OK. Just a few people take care of that. And the people who don’t have work to do can come, of course. The other people who have work to do have to work in the morning. You organize where to do that and what and who. (Yes, Master.) And you got the toy factory? (Yes. We placed the order, and they’re due to make this delivery tomorrow.) OK, I know. (The first part.) What else do they need? (They need toiletry, towels.) Yeah, buy more. (Yes, we will. Thank You.) You know the budget. US$200,000 (Yes, I do.) At least so you don’t worry. OK. Up to now you bought only US$70,000, right? (Yes.) My check.
We have more. So, you ask Tong, our “financial minister,” who has only three pairs of clothes. But she is the richest person in our Association. All the money goes through her and from her, but she cannot spend one penny. But she is the most frugal monk in our group. You should see other monks. It’s OK. Don’t flatter her ego so much. If other monks who wear too many clothes, she will scold them. But she dares not scold me. I wear the most colorful clothes. Well, she never overspent, sometimes underspent. So, we have to watch out. Instead of cutting spending, she’s cutting our food. I scolded her many times. She’s getting better now. It’s OK.
So, I’ll make sure she will give you the money. (Thank You, Master.) She will. She will. For disaster people and that, she’s always the top one. Just when it’s wasting and when it comes to nonsense spending, she will not like it. She’s very suitable for financial budgeting. I told her, “You have to do it because maybe in last life you had been an officer in charge of money, and then you put all of them in your pocket. So, this time, it’s your karma you have to repay your last mistake.” So, for every penny spent, she’s very careful now.
So, actually if they let us work with them, we would have delivered everything yesterday already to the hands of everybody. In Âu Lạc (Vietnam), we delivered into the hands of 50,000 people in one week, to everybody’s hands. The group of eight monks only, eight persons. In one-week or ten-days’ time, including the bureaucratic problems and policemen’s investigation and buses broken, breaking down problems. Yes, that we had also. There’s no need to report. And including the distance between the villages far away where the flood, was the most severe.
So, actually our organization worked very fast, but other people, they didn’t believe it. So, they didn’t let us work. And sometimes I feel a little bit frustrated, they work too slow. If we need more, it’s OK, we will manage. We will send from Taiwan (Formosa). Even though we don’t have it here, but we can send very fast. I think US$200,000 would be enough for the time being for the state of emergency, right? (That’s correct, Master.) Yes, yes. And later if it’s necessary, we will consider. Because this is only emergency case. Most people, they will have insurance or… Yeah? So government helps. So, this is only for the immediate relief.
Actually, you see, sometimes in disaster, they learn to work together, protect each other, love each other and share the hard times together. And people’s hearts become more softened. And hatred probably dissolves between sometimes misunderstood neighbors and all that. And some people in disaster will begin to reflect the ephemeral nature of life. And then they will begin to understand that material security is not everything reliable, that we need. Look at the million-dollar homes, just in six, five minutes, finished.
Do we have any guests who want to come, (Yes.) or Aulacese (Vietnamese) or something? (There’s two from Africa.) Let them come in. (Yes.) You didn’t let them in? (No, they sit there.) Oh, OK. Never mind, never mind. Please sit down. It’s OK. Oh, yeah. Baba? (Yes.) I didn’t recognize you. Oh, please sit. You want a chair? (No.) Or you want to sit here? (No.) No. OK, never mind. I was thinking maybe they forgot you. (No.) Therefore, I asked. It’s OK. If you’re happy there, just sit there.
(I’d just like to apologize for yesterday, Master, I didn’t come in time.) It’s alright. It’s alright. No. It’s no big deal. I know you had other engagement. (OK. Thank You.) It’s OK. Please sit. If you’re comfortable there. Are you alright? (OK.) I didn’t see you. That’s why I ask. (Yes.) I just asked them whether you came today. They said yes, and you came. Just right now in the car, I asked. (No, I stayed here the whole night.) They didn’t tell me anything. Just in the car, I realized that you came. So I looked, and I didn’t see anything. (No. They had another work, don’t worry…) Oh, alright. I’m sorry. A little bit disorganized. So, please sit down.
Photo Caption: True Beauty Is Just a Natural Thing
