This week, was a very special week. It has been exactly 45 years since I arrived in Japan. 45 years ago, was my first arrival in Japan.
Forty-five years… .Thank you, Sky for your meditation. The most important thing you said is witnessing yourself. Becoming a real Raelian is becoming a Buddha. You are all Buddhas. Sometimes you forget it, but it is your goal without being your goal. Because if you want to be a Buddha, you cannot be a Buddha.
You can become a Buddha if you don’t want it. The same way you cannot meditate if you want to meditate. You are, without thinking that you are. Because if you think that you are, you are not. This detachment, this distance and proximity. Distance from everything, and proximity with everything.
Especially with the most terrible handicap we have: thinking. Emotion. Emotion comes from thinking. Expectation. If you expect somebody to behave in a certain way and they don’t, then you feel frustration. And frustration generates anger. Sky’s image of the rollercoaster is very good.
But through this rollercoaster adventure, you learn. You grow. Anytime you have been angry – it happens to everybody – after a while you say, “Wow! Why did I become angry?” But you don’t answer. You just blame yourself. Which creates guilt. Rollercoaster. “Why did I do that? Ah! I was so stupid…” You judge yourself.
Don’t judge yourself for your mistakes. From your mistakes, you learn. You need mistakes. Be thankful for your mistakes instead of feeling guilty. “Oh! I was so stupid to become angry.” That doesn’t bring you anywhere.
What witnesses yourself, now and in the past? It’s easier to witness the past. “Why did I do that?” It’s past. It’s good to learn. The “why” is going up, and blaming yourself is going down. Stay up. Don’t enter into blaming or judging yourself for your mistakes. Mistakes are the best part of your personality. They made you what you are today.
Without mistakes, of course, you can do nothing. Many people are like that – they stay alone: no friend, no lover – because they are afraid to make mistakes. No job, alone. But that’s not life. Life is being with others, interacting with others. And when you interact with other people, automatically there are mistakes, because you are not perfect. Nobody can be perfect. But you can witness perfectly your movement in the rollercoaster, without blaming, without judgment.
And observe people who blame and judge others. Some people are really full of judgment for others. Why? Because they judge themselves. If you stop judging yourself, then you stop judging others. And compassion arises. Compassion is the most important quality. Long ago, in the Buddhist tradition, Maitreya was supposed to be the Buddha of compassion. And I am full of compassion. Whatever mistake you do, you know in advance that I will forgive you. So do it! Do the mistakes, because you are sure to be forgiven.
And your supraconsciousness naturally doesn’t want to make mistakes. But it happens: misunderstanding, not hearing some words well. Very important, eh? If somebody says something and you understand the opposite, you judge. Life is full of these little problems. And the problems are not important. How you react to them – that’s important. “Oh, this man insulted me, he said this thing, he thinks I am stupid.” My question to this person who is complaining: Are you stupid? “No, but he says I am stupid.” But are you stupid? “Of course not.” So, you hurt yourself with the words of somebody else.
Can words from other people hurt you? Never. You can all shout at me, “You are stupid” – I don’t care. You can insult me with the worst insult you can imagine; they will never hurt me. Because I know who I am. I love myself. You can all say, “Maitreya, you are stupid,” okay? I know I am a very intelligent person.
So please say, “You are stupid, Maitreya,” I don’t care. If you doubt your intelligence, then the words of other people hurt you. The words of other people are like knives – knives that cannot enter you. But you can take these knives and hurt yourself. No words from anybody around you can hurt you. No words, no attitude, no lack of smile can hurt you.
But some people are really, “Give me a knife, give me a knife…” immediately. “This person looked at me in a strange way this morning… this person didn’t smile at me this morning…” Only you can hurt yourself. If somebody enters with a real knife, of course we run away. But the knives of words or emotions – they cannot enter. You have to take them and put them inside, and then you suffer a lot. And again, and again, and again… That, I think, is very Japanese.
Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! I always slow down people who repeat gomenasai constantly. It’s a sign, of course, of respect and beautiful contact with other people to apologize. But don’t do it too much. You make a mistake – it’s beautiful to apologize. One time. Because I see many Japanese people: Gomenasai! Gomenasai! Gomenasai! One time. “I’m sorry.” That’s it. And if the other person needs more, it’s their problem. Then they will have to apologize.
Remember this: nobody can hurt you, only yourself. Because if you hurt yourself with the words of others, you can never become a Buddha. You are using the negative thinking of other people to hurt yourself. But you can enter the state of Buddha when nothing from outside can affect you. Not in negative, and not in positive. Some people say, “I love you.” Is it true? I don’t care. I know you love me. If you say it to me ten times – good. One time is enough. Or not at all – just smiling – because I have no expectation.
That happens especially in couples. You know, these partners who always ask, “Do you love me?” Sometimes – I had this experience. I was very young in Paris, with a beautiful girlfriend, but constantly insecure. “Do you love me?” “Yes. ” “Do you love me? ” Ten minutes later: “Do you love me? ” And after a few hours, I said, “No.” Because she searched for it. She was looking for it. Very surprised: “You told me ten times you love me and now, no? ” “Because you have to learn to love yourself”.
These people who are insecure – they don’t love themselves. They expect to feel good because of other people. I don’t expect anybody here to make me feel good. In the beginning of the movement, I organized meetings of guides, and I trained them to insult each other and not react. Because your reaction is your responsibility. If I say, “I hate you,” it must not hurt you, because you know it’s not true.
No expectation to be loved by the Elohim. Who are you to expect the Elohim to love you? What a lack of humility! “Elohim, I love you. Please love me.” No! Love is giving – no expectation. And the Elohim do not expect you to love them. I repeat: the Elohim do not expect you to love them But if you do, they enjoy it. You don’t make them happy – because they are happy whatever happens – but they enjoy. It’s pleasant when somebody says, “I love you.”
It’s so beautiful to be loved if you don’t expect it. If you expect it, it’s never enough. If you don’t expect it, just “I love you” – you are happy for centuries.
I love this other joke I saw on the Internet: a man has a girlfriend who is a little like the one I had in Paris, and she asks, “Do you love me?” And the guy says, “I told you yesterday. And as long as I don’t send you a letter or a message saying that’s not good anymore, keep it.” Very interesting. “Do you love me?” “I told you yesterday.” It’s funny, but it’s deep. Do we need to hear it every day? No. You don’t say every time you meet me that you love me. But I know you love me, and I appreciate it. Even if you don’t say it, I see it in your eyes.
And with the Elohim, it’s the same. We love the Elohim. We can say, “Elohim, I love you,” but we don’t expect anything in return. That is the beauty of real love.
