In different countries, we have different terminology for God or even Buddha. “Buddha” is a Sanskrit name, and it’s pronounced “Buddha.” But in Âu Lạc (Vietnam), they call Hirm Phật, or Bụt, or Thế Tôn, or Điều Ngự, Vô Thượng Sư, Vô Thượng Sĩ, etc. And in different countries, we have different religions, and they say “God” with a different name. In Âu Lạc (Vietnam), we also have “God.” When he (Thích Nhật Từ) says there is no God, he truly slanders all the Aulacese (Vietnamese) faithful, hinting that they are all stupid because they believe in God, Who does not exist! According to him, Thích Nhật Từ.
Every day, the Aulacese (Vietnamese) people pray to God, pray to Heaven. Even they link God and Buddha together. Trời Phật means “Buddha” or “God.” “Xin Phật Trời phù hộ” means “Buddha and God, please help us.” They always say, “Pray to God and Buddha.” Lạy trời, lạy Phật. Phù hộ. “Pray to Buddha, pray to God. Please protect us.” Something like that, all the time. That’s how they pray in Âu Lạc (Vietnam), and praise God and Buddha. But, of course, you don’t always have to call on God. The Buddha is God’s Representative, so you can also worship the Master, the Buddha.
The Buddha means the Master, Guru. And then, of course, They are linked together anyway. If the Master is real and great, He or She is one with God anyway. Inside. Doesn’t mean They’re lost. Inside, They are together in one Force, one Force of the great Universal Power. But outside, They are still an individual, even in the Paradise. Like Amitābha Buddha doesn’t just disappear into Godhood, He is still Amitābha Buddha. And God is God.
In Buddhism, Buddha said you have to rely on yourself. “I am only the finger pointing at the Moon, but I’m not the Moon. So you follow my finger, find the Moon, and see the Moon.” Meaning, He taught people how to be enlightened and remember enlightenment, the goal. But He cannot give you complete enlightenment if you don’t practice. You have to be your own Master. That is for sure.
All the Masters teach the same. They point the way, but you have to walk there. Well, of course, sometimes when you’re sick and tired for some reason, then the Master, the Buddha carries you. Meaning, at that time, They give you more Grace, lend you more Power, until you get well again. Because They are representing God to help you, to rescue you. But you have to follow Them, to go with Them, go with Their Teaching.
Of course, not like following Them personally anywhere. You can do that also. But, of course, in the old times, it was more important because we didn’t have any telephone, television or anything, so whoever could, they lived next to the Buddha together, became monks or nuns, in order to get His teachings every day directly. Whereas if you stay far away, it’s difficult. And even if the monks and nuns did not stay with the Buddha, they came and visited the Buddha often. Or there was some retreat, and they came and asked the Buddha about things, about their spiritual progress, for example like that. And the layperson who lived far away, but also tried to find a way to come to see Him as often as they could. Even the Buddha’s father also kept coming to see the Shakyamuni Buddha. Any Buddha is the same. The same thing happened to Them before.
And now we have more advanced technology so we can watch any great Master from far away, which is good also. So the Buddha said, “You rely on yourself. You have to practice.” Of course, all the Masters will teach you that. It’s very logical. Even the greatest English teacher in your country cannot impart to you all the English knowledge that he knows, and all his English accent or talent, if you don’t follow him – meaning, if you don’t follow his teaching, if you don’t learn his lessons, if you don’t do your homework. It’s similar, everything is so logical.
But that doesn’t mean God doesn’t exist or no other Power exists. There is a big, great Power from God. And because of that, the Buddhas can stay strong, healthy, powerful in this world. It depends on the country, of course. Some countries, they just kill Them right away in the case of Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, God! Or many other Masters. Most of the Masters were killed brutally, even Their disciples also, like during the time of Jesus, for example. You name any Master in the past, they all died brutally in the name of the government. So you’d be glad, happy that even now the people in Âu Lạc (Vietnam) or many other countries still can worship Jesus and God in the church. And the Buddhists can worship Buddhas in the temple. And the monks and nuns are still free to even roam around and teach people the way they want, or just go online.
But this monk, Thích Nhật Từ, he is all wrong. I don’t know what more wrongs he did. I’m not in Âu Lạc (Vietnam). I don’t follow him 24/7. But so many things he said in public are enough to indicate his very low character and low level. He must be at the level of the devil in order to say so many sinful things against the Buddha. He’s anti-Buddha, just like the pope is anti-Christ. Because he slanders Lord Jesus and God, while relying on, while benefiting from God’s Glory and Jesus’ fame, Jesus’ faithful in order to become the pope, the top position in Christianity. And he still opens his own mouth to slander Jesus, slander God even. So if he’s not anti-Christ, then who is he? You ask yourself. This monk is the same. Thích Nhật Từ, he’s the same. He doesn’t know anything about Buddhism according to what he preaches – only preaching, “Oh, give money, give money.”
“Thích Nhật Từ asking for donations from philanthropists: Today, I also hope that everyone, for example, who has a plan to donate at place A, B, or C, and has set aside an annual amount for these contributions, then you could direct all of it to me. All will be the same anyway.”
Most of the time I hear about that. Many monks are like that too. Oh well, never mind, as long as they just ask for money and nothing else. But if they rob people of their faith that they built up all their lives already, then this is sinful, very sinful.
I have advised them, the monks or nuns, if you don’t know much or don’t know anything, then just keep quiet. Learn more inside, pray to the Buddhas to teach them, give them a little information, inspiration, if they even can receive it. It’s not easy to receive the Teaching and Blessing from the Buddhas, even though They always give. God always gives, but not everybody receives God’s Blessing, answers or instructions. That is the thing. You have to be sincere, pure and virtuous in order to receive Buddhas’ or God’s Teaching. It’s like your glass must be clean in order to have a real drink!
When somebody asked, “There’s God or no God?”, the Buddha said, “There is no such God,” as the way the humans describe it in human terminology and human imagination. That’s what He meant. So He said, “There is no such God, but there is one thing from which all things came, and to which all things will return.” That’s what the Buddha said in the Buddhist sutra. So if that one thing is not God, then what is? How can it be just anything and then we all come from where? If there’s no God…
We don’t have to call Hirm God. This is a great, great, Greatest Benevolent, Compassionate, Merciful, Loving, Kind, Unfathomable, All-Knowing Energy – just say that then – from Which we evolved and became human beings, Saints and Sages. And then slowly, if we really want to dwell deep into that question and to know who we are, then we will find the answer maybe in some religious scriptures, maybe through some enlightened great Master, if we are fortunate enough.
Too many people call God with different names because of different countries, and also because of the level of that enlightened person. Because sometimes they cannot get direct contact with God Almighty – oh, that is something you cannot always have. But they can have the Representative of God. Like, for example, the Buddhas or the Masters in Christianity, many of Them preach about God. In reality, They are great Saints, great Sons and Daughters of God, in reality, in Heaven, in Their Abode. So if you believe in Them, then God will also bless you.
Because just like a king in the country, you can’t always go and talk to him. But the king has ministers of different kinds of departments, for different problems, different issues in the country, to run the country for him. But the king is always there. Without the king, there’s no prime minister, there’s no minister. A king is a symbol, permanent government, permanent leader. And nowadays, we have presidents and prime ministers, etc. It’s similar, but it’s not as permanent as a king. So, many countries, they prefer a king. They feel it’s more stable, more reliable. They just feel more stable, have something always there. Presidents, prime ministers, they come and go, come and go. Well, for me, sometimes I feel dizzy also, always election this, election that, every several years spend so much money, so much time, so much fighting, sometimes even with violence, in order to become a president. And then a couple of years later, they just throw you out and worship another one. So, it’s maybe good in some way. If the president is not good, it’s better to change him, of course.
But in a kingdom, if the king is good, they like to keep him forever. That’s also very good. They feel stable, their country is stable. In many of the countries with kings, we see some Kings and Queens, Princes and Princesses still left on Earth, and They’re doing a good job. I’d also like to live in a kingdom, a country who has a king and a queen, and it feels more stable in a way. But it doesn’t matter – if a country is good and prosperous, then it doesn’t matter if we change presidents. It’s good also, maybe fresh ideas, doing a more efficient job, things like that. If not, it could be very chaotic. It’s only about competition. It’s only about that seat in the whatever house, White House, “pink” house, “purple” house. But many countries that have kings, they are very stable. They’re well behaved, and they feel proud to have a good king. And their countries are somehow very stable, very stable and prosperous. Then it’s very good also to have a king or a queen.
Also, as we know, in all countries, they have their own God, with or without a religion. They know already God exists, and they always pray to God for anything – trouble in their life or for anything they need. Thus, even for God’s sake, for believing in God, they even fight each other, and that is bad. That is the problem when people are fanatic and don’t follow the real teaching.
Photo Caption: The Difference Makes No Difference
