The Master has to test to see if the disciples are worthy. (Right.) For example, I give initiation. At the time of initiation, we emphasize that it’s only for you, you should not tell anybody, unless the Master permits, for some reason. (Yes.) You cannot tell. But some people just think they can, I told you already. (Right. Yes, Master.) Not only do they harm themselves, but their merits are gone, their protection is taken away; not by the Master, but by the Council of the Universe. (Oh. Yes, Master.) Because they’re not worthy.
Alright, now. So, all three of them chose, what? (Gold.) Gold. You know everything. My God, you remember that! (Yes.) Only because it’s gold, or (vegan) pancakes, or a sandwich or soup. Of course, you can have all that sweetheart. I was just joking.
I’m just telling you because when you live alone and you have to cook for yourself, it’s very convenient. (Yes, Master.) If you have to go around somewhere and live alone, then sandwiches and soup are your favorites. It should be. (Yes.) Just simple advice. (Right.) That was just a talk only, wasn’t it. I would like to cook soup and sandwiches for you every day if I had time, (Oh.) until you don’t want them anymore. You would say, “Master, no, please, no more. We’d rather go out begging somewhere for more variety.”
“And then they said goodbye to the King and left. After all three of them left the capital for a distance, about maybe four kilometers,” they say, “bốn dặm.” Maybe four miles or something.
“Then suddenly, the youngest one said, ‘What are we doing now? What is it that we are doing? We came here for gold or for the Torah?’” He was asking like that. (Yes. Yes, Master.) “‘Your little brother has something to tell you. I suggest that we go back to the King, return the gold, and then learn something wise from the King instead.’ The two elder brothers said, ‘If you want to return the gold, then you do it. But both of us, we will not throw away our gold.’ (Oh.) So, they both continued going.
And then the youngest brother went back to see King Solomon and told him, ‘Your Majesty, when I came here, it was not gold that I was seeking. It’s not a priority. Please take back your gold, and teach me these three wise pieces of advice.’ So, King Solomon said, ‘Oh, my son, my son. I’m going to teach you these three wise pieces of advice. Number one: When you are traveling, always start your journey in the morning, at dawn. Early morning. And then at night, you should pitch your tent before it becomes dark, when it’s still bright. The second piece of advice is: If you see any river full of water, never try to walk across it until the water has ebbed down. Wait until the water has ebbed down. And the third wise piece of advice is: Never ever tell women any secret things, even if it’s your own wife.’”
Oh… That I cannot keep, King Solomon. I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Because I’m a woman, that’s why they know everything. I always tell them everything and I got into trouble. Never mind. It’s good. Sometimes we can stop it on time. That’s good. If we cannot, then, too bad. I talk to my diary; I tell my diary instead.
“‘Even if it’s your wife, you never tell women anything that is supposed to be a secret.’ So the youngest brother said ‘Good-bye’ to the King, rode on the horse, and galloped fast to follow the two elder brothers. When he saw them, when he caught up with them, the two brothers asked him, ‘Now, what did you learn? Huh?’ So, the younger brother said, ‘I have learned what I have learned.’”
He became wise already. (Yes.) Not only he doesn’t tell women, but he doesn’t even tell his brothers. They did not deserve it. Right? (Right. Yes.) They held on to their gold instead of wanting to be wise. (Right. Yes.) See? So gold was even more precious to them than wisdom, even from the King, from the wise King. (Yes, Master.)
But of course, you can’t even blame them. They left everything. Imagine it’s you. They left everything behind. And if they went home again, it’s not sure if they can even get any job immediately. So, they need money. (Yes, Master. Yes.) And then also, they stayed with King Solomon 13 years, and they didn’t learn anything.” That’s according to the story. (Yes.) Yeah, it’s not that easy.
When you went to see the Master in the old times, They made you do labor work, and do everything else, anything They want. But not teaching you the essential thing. Not immediately. (Yes.) Sometimes it takes years, sometimes it takes more than ten years, like in this story. But, you know that through many other old stories as well. (Right. Yes, Master.)
Because the Master has to test to see if the disciples are worthy. (Right.) For example, I give initiation. At the time of initiation, we emphasize that it’s only for you, you should not tell anybody, unless the Master permits, for some reason. (Yes.) You cannot tell. But some people just think they can, I told you already. (Right. Yes, Master.) Not only do they harm themselves, but their merits are gone, their protection is taken away; not by the Master, but by the Council of the Universe. (Oh. Yes, Master.) Because they’re not worthy. And they also have no protection for their so-called disciples, the ones initiated by them. They get nothing. (Yes, Master.) They have no spiritual Master with them 24/7. They have no merit, no wisdom, nothing. (Yes, Master.)
So, in the old times, it was very difficult to learn something from the Master at all. (Yes. Right. Yes, Master.) Sometimes you could stay forever and you got nothing. Like the story of Master Hui Neng, you remember? (Yes.) He is the one that the Master Hong Ren, His Master, gave the initiation. Everybody else was just walking around in circles, knowing nothing. (Ah.) That’s why their enlightenment level is very low. (Oh.)
He was the only one that is a good vessel for successorship, so the Master scolded Him in front of everybody – not scold, but said something like He is nothing, also not enlightened, not got the point yet. (Yes, Master.) But at night, He told Him to come to His room and transmitted the initiation to Him alone and immediately sent Him away, because the Master knew that many people will envy Him and might kill Him. (Oh.) So, actually, like that, many people hunted Him after He left and wanted to kill Him. (Oh, no.)
So then Hui Neng knew that there is no way He could escape, so He put the bowl that you use to go out for alms, and the mantel, the kasaya, that the Master gave to Him personally as a symbol of successorship – (Oh. Yes, Master.) in case later somebody asks for His genuine successor ID or proof or something, then they will know it. (Right. Yes, Master.) So, He put the kasaya – the cloak that the Master gave Him, the mantel of successorship – and the bowl on the rock, and wrote in there or said something like, “There you are. Please take it. I did not really ask for it. Master gave it to me. So, please take it if you really need it.”
And then they came and tried to lift the clothes up and the bowl up, but they could not. (Oh.) It’s like it’s glued with UHU or something on the rock, so they cannot take it. (Wow.) So they felt then very, very frightened at that time and really in awe, so they all knelt down and said, “Please. It’s not the clothes we want. We want initiation, enlightenment, the real method.”
So, He taught them, right there. (Oh. Wow.) Somebody also wanted to kill Him, so He put some money outside of the room and said, “Maybe I owe you money, but not my life. So, take the money and go.” Something like that. Why did I tell you all these things? Right.
“So the two brothers asked him and he also didn’t say anything. He said, ‘I have learned what I have learned.’” (Yes.) “So, the three of them continued on their journey. When it was almost twilight already, they all saw that this place here was very good for camping at night. (Yes.) So, the youngest brother said, ‘Oh, let us stay here for the night. And then we leave tomorrow morning. You see, this place, we have water, we have dry wood all around, and then we have a lot of grass so our horses can also eat.’ (Yes, Master. Yes.) The two brothers kind of laughed sarcastically and told him. ‘You talk like a looney.’” That means crazy.
“‘Ever since you threw away your own gold just to buy three pieces of whatever advice from King Solomon, we both don’t understand who you are anymore and what has become of you. Why do we have to rest here when we could continue going? Maybe another eight miles and even further in the night, tonight, so that we can get home earlier.’ So, the youngest brother said, ‘Well, if that’s what both of you wish, then you can. I cannot stop you. But me, I stay here. I’m not going anywhere.’
So, the two elder brothers continued going. (Yes.) And the youngest brother stayed behind where he felt it was favorable. So, he put up his tent, made the fire and let the horse go out and eat the grass. And after he ate food himself, full, he laid down and slept like a baby. Peacefully. On the contrary, the two brothers riding the horses kept going until the night suddenly became very dark. They didn’t see where they could find any grass for the horses not even dry grass, and they could not find any dry wood to make a fire. And then after a while a big storm and snowstorm came upon them and both of them died because of the cold, (Oh, wow!) because of the freezing cold. (Wow!) Both of them froze and died.” (Wow.)
