Greece
is a country with a very long spiritual and religious history that has
produced many great, world-renowned philosophers, including Plato, Socrates,
Aristotle, and many others. Athens, the capital city, has a population
of over 4.5 million, and each year many thousands of tourists go there
who are keen to learn more about Greece's unique culture and to visit
the many truly monumental historical sites that the country is proud
of, such as the Acropolis.
On the evening of
May 20th, the fortunate people of Greece packed into a centrally located
venue, the Park Hotel, eagerly waiting to be graced by the presence
of the Supreme Master Ching Hai. Elegantly attired in an orange dress,
Master received a very warm welcome as She stepped onto the stage.
Master began Her talk
by reminding the people that Greece is a great country full of mythology
regarding gods and goddesses. Master further explained clearly: "Knowing
God is the only virtue that we must acquire. Ignorance is the only sin
we must avoid. Ignorance makes us kill each other, hate each other,
damage each other, and compete with each other."
"Ignorance means we
don't know that we all are God. Because all the scriptures say that
God lives within this temple, so all we see here and everywhere else
are God's manifestation in the physical realm. Because of this ignorance,
we make war with each other and we acquire greed of every kind because
we are not satisfied with the world. Because we came from the Kingdom
of God, where we never lacked anything. When we are here we miss that
kind of absolute comfort."
"The only thing to
stop this is enlightenment, is knowing our true self, which means we
visit the Kingdom of God, we visit our true home whenever we want every
day in order to know that we have something better and everything here
is just temporal and we lose interest in these fake things because we
know the true glory. Master said further: "Seeing God is like this,
[Master snapped Her fingers], easier than getting a taxi in central
Athens." "Enlightenment must be transmitted, a living force from being
to being, from soul to soul, directly inside."
On the completion
of Master's lecture, the crowd had the opportunity to ask for further
information about specific topics. Many questions came flooding in and
Master patiently spent time answering and clarifying further to the
sincere seekers of Truth. Master stood up throughout the entire lecture
and question and answer period, because many people would have been
unable to see Her if She had been seated. Fatiguing as that must have
been, once again we were reminded of Master's unconditional sacrifice
for other people and that She always considers them first and Herself
last. 
On completion of the
lecture, many people rushed to the front of the stage to receive the
fruit, candy and flowers that Master kindly distributed. Some people,
realizing how rare and precious this occasion was, handed Master their
sample booklets or flyers to be signed, at which point She remarked
that She was not a movie star. Many people, looking to quench their
spiritu
al
thirst, requested initiation into the Quan Yin Method of meditation.
Supreme
Master Ching Hai's 1999 European Lecture Tour - True Treasures
Recognized Only by Wisdom Eyes