The core of Ching Hai’s teachings is what she calls the "Quan Yin Method", a "Method of Meditation on The Inner Light and Sound" [觀音静坐法門] by which an individual is said to be able to attain the highest level of divine realization.
There’s only one religion: the religion of God, of love and of understanding. There’s only one church, one temple: the temple of Enlightenment. Come to that temple; then we’ll know all religions of the world.
The Quan Yin Method
Ching Hai initiates spiritual aspirants into the Quan Yin Method, also called the "Inner Light and Sound meditation." The Quan Yin Method, which exists in various religions under different names, is the "best, easiest, and quickest" way to get enlightenment. The method involves meditation on the "inner light and the inner sound of God", or the Word that she claims is also referred to in the Bible and said to be acknowledged repeatedly in the literature of all the world's major spiritual traditions. The Quan Yin Method requires two and a half hours of meditation per day and adherence to the five precepts.
As part of their meditation routine, followers of Ching Hai partially cover their heads under a sheet of cloth or blanket while meditating. However, while meditating away from the view of uninitiated people, the meditators do not necessarily use this cloth to cover their heads completely.
The Convenient Method
For the people who would like to have some experimental experiences, or cease eating animal products gradually, the "Convenient Method" is offered instead as a preliminary to the Quan Yin Method. The practice involves half an hour of meditation a day and adherence to a vegetarian diet for a minimum of ten days per month.
Spiritual Path and Teachings
Ching Hai teaches that the main goal of life is continuous spiritual elevation. In this world, we have two ways to live our life. Most people choose the normal way that we accept everything that happens to us as destiny, because we do not know the second way. The other way is knowing God's grace, by which we can live a much happier, smoother and more peaceful life, but most of the time it's hidden from us. Accordingly there are also two classes of universal law; One is the law of absolute love and grace, the other is the law of action and retribution. When we’re in the higher dimensions of the Kingdom, we have only love and grace. But when we’re in the lower scales of the universe such as this physical dimension, we have to abide by the law of cause and effect. Most of us enjoy only this world and do not know Heaven exists. However most of the happiness in this world is short-lived or has side effects. To find the source of all happiness, uncover our inner wisdom and love, and get permanent freedom from suffering, namely enlightenment, we must turn to the great Spirit, the spirit of God, that lies within us. Altogether we can live an easy life in this world, that everything is clear to us. We can choose to gain both material and spiritual success. We can choose whatever we want, but we must know how. To be successful in the spiritual knowledge of God, we must find the right opportunity and associate with the right person, one who knows the spiritual way to God, who can help us remember the way that we’ve forgotten and who can reconnect us with Him. Many people can get enlightened to some degree by themselves through the teachings of a Teacher, or through their own effort due to their sincerity and longing. But many people can’t. And even if we can get enlightened ourselves, there are many things that still need to be cleared up by a living Teacher who has gone all the way, back and forth because the spiritual road is invisible. So, only through initiation by an authentic living master can a seeker remember his true self and become fully enlightened.
The Five Precepts
If we want to stay in higher dimension, we need to live up to its standards. We need to be noble, compassionate, and loving. We must adhere to five precepts:
* Refrain from taking the life of sentient beings
* Refrain from speaking what is not true
* Refrain from taking what is not offered
* Refrain from sexual misconduct
* Refrain from the use of intoxicants
These rules have been passed down to us from the many Masters of ancient times to Master Jesus, Master Buddha, Master Krishna, Master Mohammed and so on, and they continue being passed down to us. We could and should live on vegetarian diet. As long as we don’t give up flesh-eating we are still harming the earth and consequently harming ourselves and our children in the future. Therefore one need to be a vegetarian to get initiation.
Initiation
During the initiation, she purportedly will reveal to the new disciple the inner light of god, whether she is physically present or not. The minimum amount of time she recommends to be spent in meditation is two and a half hours a day for her initiated disciples.
Through daily practice of meditation and charitable, noble work, we are coming to know more and more about our godself, and realize that all beings are linked by the invisible force of love. We start to love people more, love the flowers and all the animals more than we loved before, because we see them now with different eyes, with enlightened eyes. We just do it, the more we give, the more love we have, and then the love is all-encompassing again, and we will regain our unconditional love again, 100%.
Selflessness and Humility
Selflessness and humility are important tenets of Ching Hai’s teachings. Selflessness means always love; be loving and kind, think about others before oneself. She advises her disciples to train themselves in any selfless act they can. Even if at first one do it with intention, just keep doing it, then it becomes automatic. Humility means one put oneself last. If we realize that we are not really here, that we’re just a shadow in this non-existent planetary world, then how can we worry about ourselves so much? So, we are no one and we don’t need to really consider this “self,” then we always have the bigger Self. But when we only think of this little self here, which is only the body, then we are just stuck there with the little one, and we will never go anywhere else; we will never grow any bigger.
Contact with Disciples
Ching Hai keeps in contact with her disciples by speaking at meditation retreats that she occasionally puts on for them, as well as by communing inwardly with them when they meditate. Many disciples claimed that they could perceive her omnipresence and help especially when they were in troubles. She says that the real master is not her physical body, but the omnipresent "God Power" that she possesses. Thus, she often tells her disciples that she is always with them, supporting and protecting them, even if her physical body isn't near
