Recently, I met this monk again and I asked him. “How are you doing? Have you attained liberation yet?” He said, “Not yet, and probably not in this lifetime. I’ ll have to continue practicing hard next time around.” Then he said, “I heard at one point you were practicing in the mountains. That’ s good, but since then you’ ve gone further and further away. What went wrong? Have you attained liberation? Have you attained success in your practice?” “No,” I said, “I haven’ t attained liberation, or even much success. But, because of my efforts, a lot of people have gotten benefit from Buddhadharma.”

The monk said, “If you’ re not liberated, how can you help others benefit from the Dharma?” I answered, “I’ m not concerned with liberation. I just want people to benefit from the Buddha’ s teachings.” “If you are not liberated yourself, isn’ t it likely their suffering and behavior will influence you?” I replied, “It’ s important that I make vows to strengthen my intent to help others. However, I should not expect anything in return.” Liberation is a state where one is not affected by other beings or situations. That is why it is important to put down ideas of personal gain or loss.

Recently, my institute purchased a large property outside Taipei in Taiwan to build a monastery. Someone approached me and offered a parcel of their land adjacent to ours. I asked why he wanted to do this, and he said, “No reason at all. It’ s unconditional. Just take the land.” I declined the offer, so he said, “Well, first, I wish to make a monetary donation.” It amounted to $40, 000 U. S. dollars. I said, “If you want to make that kind of donation, fine.”