If we trust and admire Master very much and deeply understand Master’s teachings, do we still need to get initiated from Master? What is the huge difference between initiation and no initiation? Supreme Master Ching Hai reminds us that even if the initiates don’t believe in Master that much, they are still better than those who believe Mater without getting initiation.

Many people think that it is enough to believe in Master. No, it is not. We still need to be willing to let Master cleanse our karmas, then it will be OK. The initiates are those who are open totally to Master’s cleansing; the non-initiates, who just believe in Master and read Master’s books, will only be cleansed outside. We have collected too much negative garbage, and all our moral conceptions and noble ideals have gone rotten, only leaving us the mundane concepts and the habits of greed, anger and ignorance. We can’t deal with them on our own, so we need a living master to help us, who is more experienced and knows how to deal with the garbage. So initiation is the only way for those who truly want liberation from life and death and who want to cleanse their dirty spots.