Q. However, many religious groups today do have great financial power. Many religious leaders are super wealthy. What Your opinion is on this?

M. It depends on whether he does what Shakyamuni Buddha wanted to do. For example, gives the correct teachings to his disciples and leads them to free themselves from the cycle of life and death. It is whether or not he does this that is important, not whether or not he is wealthy. Maybe God wants him to have that money, or maybe his disciples make a lot of donations. If he uses that money to give lectures, wouldn't that be nice?

It was different with Shakyamuni Buddha. He was a prince. Without advertisement, people respected Him. Unlike today, He did not need a lot of money to give lectures. Furthermore, it is relatively easy to help the Indian to excel. If I were to go to India, to give lectures right now, I would be immediately crowded by tens of millions of people.

As far as I am concerned, God has given me lots of talents. I can paint pictures, design dresses, and lanterns. I use what I earn to help the poor. Therefore, to have money is not a bad thing. It all depends on hour you make use of the money you have. What do you think?

Q. Hi. I see so much destruction going on around me, environmental destruction.

M. True.

Q. Cruelty. Cruelty to animals.

M. It's true.

Q. I just wonder how You perceive this and what You can recommend to people who are trying to release themselves from this world in the spiritual fashion, to help them cope with their surroundings and cope with all the devastation that is going on around them. And do You think that going beyond this world is enough for us to recognize what we are leaving behind, or do You feel we in this plane have a duty to try to alleviate the suffering? And will it do any good?

M. It will. It will. At least for us, for our conscience so that we feel we are doing something and we have tried our best to relieve the suffering of our fellow beings. I do all the same. Whatever you ask, I am doing. I did, I do, and I will. I have told you already, our finances are distributed to different organizations, sometimes, or different countries, when there are in disasters. And I would not like to boast much about it, but since you ask... And for example, we gave one million dollars US to Philippines last year for their release of their... relief of their Mt. Pinatubo. And we helped the flood victims in Vietnam, and the flood victims in China etc. And we are trying to help the Vietnamese refugees now to release...to.... to help with the U.N.'s burden, you understand, provided the U.N. wants us to help. But we are trying. Yes, understand now? We help them with financial support, and also we could relocate them if the U.N. lets it happen - with the blessing of the U.N. Understand? Yes, so we do all these things that you have requested and also because, since we are here, you understand, we might just as well clean our environment as much as possible. Therefore, we help with the suffering and we help with the moral standard of the world. Yeah? Both spiritually and physically. Yes. Because some people don't want to take spirituality from me. They only want to take physical help. So we help them physically. And that's what we do, that's why I have to earn money. That's why I don't want to live on people's donations. Understand? All my monks and my disciples have to work, just like you do. And then, apart from that, we help spiritually also, understand, and help with the suffering of the world, help to relieve the suffering of the world. We have to do this. Doesn't mean we sit in samadhi all day long and enjoy ourselves. That's a very selfish Buddha (enlightened being). We don't want to have him here. (laughter)