Excerpts from Supreme Master Ching Hai’s lecture:

We will be very confused with so many teachings in the whole planet, and more in the astral level. And the upper level, there are also all the teachings. If you go and encounter some of the divas and heavenly beings, they’ll teach you something else. So if we have to know the basic, yeah, why we want to be enlightened, why we have to be more noble, be more God-like, because the other half of God is higher consciousness, is more noble, is more wisdom. And it’s the other half of us that we are missing. We have to attain that other half in order to be whole, to be wholesome, to be total, to be what we truly are. And that's the purpose of enlightenment, of being more moderate in our way of life, being modest, being humble, being noble. And walk in the way of beauty, and the way of glory, and the way of truth.

1. If we're all God and everything comes from God including all good and evil, why do we have to be vegetarian, keep the precepts, practice and follow Master's teachings?
2. As human beings, we have the opportunity to climb to a higher level of God consciousness. That's why we don't want to exercise our free will to do anything absolutely the way we want; otherwise we'll stay here in a lower level of the scale of God consciousness.
3. Why did Supreme Master Ching Hai change from her nun's clothes to normal outfits? To this question, Master replies, "There's nothing you should do except meditate every day wherever you are. It's OK if you want to be a nun, but you don't have to change now. If you're already a nun, stay there. If you aren't, just stay there. It's more convenient to practice as what you are. But a renounced life is not for everyone. To renounce in the heart is more difficult, and to renounce outside is secondary. We should renounce inside."
4. If your family is deeply religious, how do you communicate with them?
5. Why doesn't God appear to us in any specific form?
6. How does the eating of eggs negatively effect spiritual practice?
7. Jesus didn't eat fish. He talked in a parable. Master explains the background of Jesus' era and His true teachings.
8. Master suggests that disciples stay away from jobs related to energy healing, Reiki, past lives, etc. because they involve using ego, human energy, and astral energy and these are not the natural power of God. The natural power of God is like this: You don't do anything and people get healed.
9. After we become vegetarian our bodies are regulated and we don't eat so much. It's a kind of fasting. Fasting won't enhance one's meditation level or degree so don't do anything extreme. We can do that sometimes to purify our bodies or lessen the desire or lust within our bodies once in a while if we want to. But you have to take care of your health and do it properly.
10. We all have bad habits, but that's not our real Self. You can try to cut out whatever bad habits you have. If you can't, then just forgive yourself and concentrate on the more positive side of your own qualities. Don't think of the negative all the time.
11. Is it better to remain single or be married? To this question, Master replies, "If you have a companion, it's OK, and if you don't, it's OK. Whichever way you prefer, whichever way you think simplifies your life and is better for you to practice, choose that way."
12. What has been the spiritual impact on human beings since Master began giving lectures around the world?
13. After you meditate for twenty or thirty minutes the chaos will calm down and dissipate, and you'll feel more peaceful. And as the days go by, there will be less and less quarrelling, and less and less negative memories, and then your mind will have nothing to remember but good things. And then it has the food from spiritual nourishment, and of course you'll become more and more calm. That's why we meditate every day. The main point is that we meditate, get better memories every day, and then all the negativity goes away.
14. How can a lawyer maintain inner peace and a clear conscience? Master gives a complete and inspirational answer to this question. When we work so hard to maintain material comforts, we should still keep a clear conscience and noble ideals.
15. "I always think of work when I meditate. What should I do?" To this question Master responds, "Whatever we do before meditation will go into our meditation for a while. And after twenty or thirty minutes, it will calm down. Sometimes it doesn't, and you have to try another time and try more. Try more Quan Yin, the Sound method."