In this world, we have conflicts not only with our husband or wife, but also with our employers, colleagues, people outside and people inside – we have many conflicts and problems every day. Sometimes we don’t want to get angry or to harbor hatred and animosity, however, due to different backgrounds and external influences, animosity and anger will breed in us, and then we think of harming people.

Our Earth is full of this kind of thinking within each of us, so our planet is not peaceful. Because we do not check our action, speech, and thoughts every day, we do not restrain our desires, our greed, anger, and infatuation, the atmosphere of our planet has become so suffocating and so unpleasant. We practice spiritually in order to change this atmosphere. After finding our inner bliss, external influences have less of an impact on us. We are reluctant to quarrel with people. We can easily talk with other people, appreciate their good qualities, and easily disregard their shortcomings.

Our heart will become more tranquil and we will generate a benign aura. We will be contented every day and never get angry – our aura is purified and has changed. If the atmosphere is so good, can you imagine how our Earth will become? A better place to live in. Right? Okay! Many people told me that they feel nice living on this planet and do not want go to Buddha Land with me, or go to Heaven with Jesus. That’s all right.

I also agree. I also agree. If you want to live on this planet Earth, I also approve. Our planet is very beautiful. Whether or not there is a Creator or God, you should know that it has taken trillions of years to make our Earth into such a beautiful globe which we are living on. It has taken innumerable kalpas – and each kalpa is billions of years – for this primeval force to start to stir and then condense into this beautiful Earth that we have now. If we fail to maintain it, cherish it, and love it, it would be a great pity.

If someone drops an atomic bomb later, everything will be destroyed. What a pity. Right? Though all of us dread wars, atomic bombs, catastrophes, and natural disasters, no one has tried to rectify it. We should change our heart from within, then those wars and natural disasters will naturally vanish because the unpleasant atmosphere is created by ourselves. If we had not quarreled with our husband or wife, the atmosphere in our family that day would not have become so unpleasant.

It is created by us, both, whoever was at fault has created this atmosphere. There is a very wise Chinese saying: “Nothing is wrong with this world; vexations are self-created.” I agree. If we do not want to go to Heaven or the Buddha Land, or to become a Buddha, it is also okay. We linger on this planet. We want to live here, protect this Earth, and to produce offspring to continue our lineage. That’s also good. This is not a bad idea. The problem is that we have failed to preserve this Earth for our later generations who will have to live in such a miserable atmosphere. That would be too bad for them. They are not born yet; we should not leave such an unpleasant inheritance for them. Understand what I mean?

After we die, we all want to leave the best inheritance to our descendants – a lot of wealth, good houses, and a lucrative business – but we don’t leave them the most important thing, which is a very pure and benign atmosphere. This is more important for our children; but we didn’t think of it. Every day we are immersed in hatred, animosity, and anger, and have darkened the atmosphere. It is such a terrible sight, looking down from Heaven, that no one dares to come to our Earth to tour. The atmosphere is horrible. We sometimes heard that certain countries have no freedom – horrible things occurs, people are intimidated and oppressed – so we don’t want to travel there. Isn’t that right?

Similarly, our Earth has become a very terrible place. The celestial beings are truly scared and dare not come down. Not that they are afraid of death, but it would be futile for them to come – we might misunderstand and kill them. It’s a waste of time and does not have much of an effect. Even then, life after life Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, celestial beings, and the Son of God still come to contact us. Though it is extremely difficult to communicate with us, they still try their best to do so. They come in every age, but most of them are rejected by us, doubted by us, attacked by us, and hurt by us. But, because the power of love of God or the Buddha is inconceivable and immeasurable, notwithstanding all that we have done to them, they still want to try.

If we have kids, no matter how bad they are, they are our children, we still love them. The following day we will forget and forgive them, and again buy candies, biscuits, and good things for them to eat; we will take them to movies, to have fun, or to the park. We forget how they messed up and were naughty the day before. The love of God is trillions of times greater than our parental love – it is boundless – but we cannot always rely on God’s love and forget about our almighty power, forget that our own decision could influence the whole world and the universe. We are also great beings. Try to imagine: if all humans choose peace and love instead of war, the world would be different. But some people prefer to choose wars and make a lot of bombs – bombs, atomic bombs, all kinds of bombs – and lots of weapons, and send them out to threaten people. If these kinds of people make a decision in a split second, it would be enough.

If today he suddenly wants to kill, he presses a button or makes a call, then innumerable lives would be lost. Understand? Isn’t it too simple? So, we truly are great beings. We humans are truly dangerous; truly very great, but also truly dangerous. Our decisions can affect the universe, the whole world. It is correct to say that we affect the whole world. For instance, if two or three big countries go to war, the small countries also would not have peace. Isn’t it so? Even if they are not fighting over here, the atomic bombs would also affect us, affect our economy, affect our air, sea, and land traffic routes. Is that not so? Those countries have relations with us. If they are stricken by war and become impoverished, they cannot come here. Our country and every country would be affected.

So we cannot say that each country is self reliant. No! The whole world is interconnected. Be it communism, democracy, or liberalism – all are connected. Since we have free will, we are free to choose our “ism.” That is right. However, we must not forget that we are living in the same world. Ours is not the only country in the world, and there are more “isms” than just our own. Some countries seem to have forgotten, or choose not to remember, and thus wars occur. That’s why I say spiritual practice is very important. If we practice, we wouldn’t think of harming people.

What really is a spiritual practitioner? Spiritual practitioners understand their inner Self and believe that the power of the Creator is lovingly taking care of all entities in the universe. We ought to believe in this. Every day we practitioners should check our actions, speech, and thoughts for anything that is not benevolent. We should give consideration to the life, feelings, and property of others. Then we are true spiritual practitioners.