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NO MIND: THE FLOWERS OF ETERNITY
Chapter 7: The world of the gurus has ended
Energy Enhancement Enlightened Texts Zen No Mind: The FLowers of Eternity
BELOVED BUDDHA,
ONCE, AFTER DAIJI HAD BECOME AN ENLIGHTENED MASTER, HE SAID TO HIS MONKS, "I'M NOT GOING TO EXPLAIN ANY MORE DEBATES; YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST A DISEASE."
AT THIS, A MONK STOOD UP FROM THE ASSEMBLY AND CAME FORWARD; DAIJI WENT BACK TO HIS ROOM.
ON ANOTHER OCCASION, WHEN DAIJI WAS SWEEPING THE GROUND, JOSHU ASKED HIM HOW TO MANIFEST PRAJNA.
DAIJI REPEATED, "HOW CAN WE MANIFEST PRAJNA?" AT THIS, JOSHU GAVE A GREAT LAUGH.
THE NEXT DAY, SEEING JOSHU SWEEPING THE GROUND, DAIJI ASKED HIM, "HOW CAN WE MANIFEST PRAJNA?" JOSHU PUT DOWN HIS BROOM AND LAUGHED ALOUD, CLAPPING HIS HANDS.
DAIJI WENT BACK TO HIS ROOM.
My Friends and my Fellow Travelers,
I would have loved to use the Urdu words for the same, because they have a depth and a poetry... even the very sound of them rings bells in the heart. The ordinary meaning is the same: my friends, my fellow travelers. But I have a very insistent feeling within me to give you the most pregnant words.
Those words are:
MEHRE HAMSAFAR, MEHRE HAMDHAM, MEHRE DOST.
Mehre hamsafar means "my fellow travelers." Mehre hamdham means "my heart." Mehre dost means "my friend." But such a vast difference....
English has become more and more prose and less and less poetry, for the simple reason that it has been serving scientific and objective technological progress. It has to be definite, it cannot be poetic.
You cannot write mathematics into poetry; neither physics, nor chemistry. Because of this predominant factor of science and technology, English has lost its glamor, its splendor, its music. It has to gain it back, because the objective side of life is not enough. Unless your heart is moved, the words are not very much pregnant with meaning and significance.
These five days have been of immense significance. It can be said that almost never in the history of man has such a phenomenon happened. This has been the deep search of meditators for thousands of years, that once a man becomes enlightened, once a man becomes full of light and knows his own eternity, he disappears into the ultimate, into the cosmos. He cannot come again through the womb of a woman. He has no desires, he has no longings. He no longer has any of the passions which drag human souls again and again to the birth and death cycle.
But once a man has gone beyond all these mind-produced desires, greed, and anger and violence, once one has come to the very center of his being, he is liberated. Liberated from himself, liberated from the body, liberated from the mind. For the first time he understands that the body will be only a prison. Now that his intuition has absolute clarity he can see that the body is nothing but disease and death -- maybe a few moments of pleasure, which go on keeping you in the body in the hope that more pleasure... But soon one realizes, if one has intelligence, that those pleasures are very phenomenal, illusory, just made of the same stuff as dreams are made of.
The moment this recognition happens, your life energy simply opens its wings and flies into the open sky of the cosmos, to dissolve into the ultimate.
But Gautam Buddha is an exception.
In the form of a beautiful story, it is said that when Gautam Buddha died he reached the gates of paradise. There was so much ceremony to receive him, but he refused to enter. He insisted, "Until every human being passes through the gates of paradise I cannot come in. It is against my compassion."
At the last moment of his death he has predicted that he will be coming back after twenty-five centuries. Of course, he can come only in one way, and that is to possess somebody's body; the womb is no longer possible for him.
For seven weeks continuously I was witnessing a fire test. Each moment seemed to be the last, and each breath going out was not promising that it would be coming back. In those seven weeks, seven times my heart showed symptoms of failure.
My physician Amrito, at the seventh stroke thought that this was the end. I told him, "The cardiogram can show you how many beats I have missed, but it cannot show you that I am not the heart -- I am the witness behind it. And my source of life is not the heart or the body; my source of life is existence itself. I trust in existence, and I trust that this seven weeks' long dark night will end."
I would have never told you, but due to Katue Ishida... a woman who has not known me, has just seen my picture and my eyes, and a woman who is a well-known seer and prophetess but rarely speaks. Very rarely people come to her ancient Shinto temple in the forest to ask questions, about their destinies, their future. And most of the time she remains silent; she speaks only when she feels, "Now existence is taking possession of me. I am not speaking, I am only allowing the existence to speak through me."
My Japanese translator, Geeta, has been informing her of everything that has happened in these five tremendously meaningful days. Because of her prophecy that Gautam Buddha has taken possession of my body as a vehicle, I had to admit the truth. But I had also expressed to her that my individuality and Gautam Buddha's individuality are twenty-five centuries apart. He was an individualist -- I am a greater individualist. I can be the host, but the guest has to remember that he is not my master.
I have never accepted anybody as my master. It has taken me very long to find out myself, but I am immensely happy that I don't have even to say a `thank you' to anyone. The search has been absolutely alone, tremendously dangerous.
And there are opinions in which I am bound to differ from Gautam Buddha. Four days he stayed with me, and saw clearly that there is no possibility of any compromise.
Compromise always leads you away from the truth. Truth cannot be a compromise -- either you know it or you don't.
Geeta informed Ishida, and she was very much afraid: how will the woman feel? But the woman proved to be of tremendous power. She said, "It does not matter. I love your master and I absolutely agree to whatsoever has happened." And then she suddenly started crying.
Geeta asked her, "Why are you crying?"
She said, "There are no words. For the first time... continuously, for five days, I have been speaking about your master, and I know nothing of him. I have not read his books, I have just seen his eyes, and a door within me has opened and almost like a flood I have been speaking. This is for the first time in my whole life..." She is in a hurry to come.
But the seven weeks' fire, the long night of the soul proved to be a blessing in disguise. It has purified me completely. And these five days of Gautam Buddha as Maitreya Buddha -- that was his prophecy, that "My name after twenty-five centuries when I come back again, will be Maitreya the Buddha."
The Friend -- Maitreya means "the friend."
It was significant on his part. He was saying, the world of the gurus has ended. The world of the masters and disciples will not be relevant anymore. The master can function only in the capacity of a loving friend. And the disciple has not to be a disciple, has not to surrender to anybody, he has just to listen to the Friend. It is up to him to decide what to do or not. No discipline can be given, no dictation can be given.
In the world of religion this is the beginning of democracy; otherwise, all religions have been dictatorial, fascist, fundamentalist.
I would like you to remember because you have been the witness of all these seven weeks and five days -- seven weeks of a constantly deepening darkness, and these five days of the rising sun, of the morning glories, of the birds singing. Again a new beginning, not only in my individuality but also in the individualities of those who have taken the risk to be fellow-travelers with me.
A new dawn, a new man is absolutely needed. Perhaps you are the new man who will destroy all that is rotten and old, that is superstitious and has no roots in intelligence. Perhaps you will be the one to destroy all organized religions, because the moment truth is organized, it dies.
I have heard an ancient story.
A recently arrived devil came running fast to the old devil and told him, "You are sitting here silently, and there on the earth one man has found the truth! It is dangerous for our profession. Something has to be done immediately!"
The old devil started laughing. He said, "Calm down. Cool down, young man! I have made my arrangements already. The scholars, the rabbis, the pundits, the priests -- all have reached, and they will organize the truth and that is the most subtle way to kill it. Now they are surrounding the man. They will not allow the man a direct approach to humanity. Humanity has to go through their interpretation, through their commentaries. And that has been, for the whole vast humanity, my way of depriving them of the truth: bring the priest in. The priests are in my service!
"All the organized religions, the churches, are in my service. They are China Walls standing between humanity and the ultimate truth."
Just a few months ago the pope has brought into the world a new sin. He has declared that anybody confessing to God directly is committing a great sin; confession has to be through the proper channel, through the priest. You cannot directly start writing letters to God -- every letter has to be in care of the priest!
And the letter never goes beyond that. All your prayers, all your confessions never move beyond the priest.
It happened once, a rabbi and a bishop were very friendly. Their friendship was because both loved golf. They had decided to go on Sunday, but the bishop said, "If I am a little bit late, just wait for me in front of the church, because Sunday is a confessional day also, and one never knows how many people are going to confess."
It was getting late and the rabbi started feeling that the line of confessors was so long... he went into the church from the back door, went into the cabin where the bishop listened to the confessions. There was a partition; the confessor was behind the partition. There was only a small window so the priest could hear, and could give him the punishment for his sins.
The rabbi said, "We are getting late. I suggest one thing -- I don't know what this confession is, but just do it one or two times and then I will manage. You get ready, and I will finish this line within minutes."
So he watched; one man came and said, "I have committed a rape." The bishop said, "Put ten dollars in the charity box and never do such a thing again. And five `Hail Marys.'"
The rabbi said, "Don't be worried -- you just go and get ready -- it is a business matter!"
Another man came and he said, "I have also committed a rape just like the fellow who has gone ahead." But he was not aware that now the bishop was not there.
The rabbi said, "Twenty dollars." The man said, "But I have heard -- to the first man you said only ten dollars!"
The rabbi said, "Ten dollars are in advance, so you need not come to confess and waste time. And ten `Hail Marys' -- now get lost!"
The function of the priest has not been to convert you into the hands of the cosmos. On the contrary, he has been in every way preventing you to open your eyes and see the stars, to open your ears and hear the breeze passing through the pine trees. He has not allowed you to see the beauty of the planet, the beauty of the skies. Neither has he been helpful to take you in your innermost being where is your eternal home. He has been exploiting.
The new man, the new humanity means individual religious people, not organized according to any dogma, doctrine, cult, but simply in tune with existence. And the only way to be in tune with existence is what we have called in the East, meditation, in which no priest is needed. You alone are enough unto yourself.
Maneesha has brought a few beautiful, small Zen anecdotes, dialogues. Just don't get caught into the words, because Zen speaks a totally different language. Alongside the words there is running a constant stream of wordless meanings. Unless you become capable to pass through the word to the wordless you will never be able to understand Zen.
Zen is the purest religion.
It is not an organized church. It respects the individual. It does not have any priests, it does not have any discipline to be forced on you; neither has it any morality that you have to surrender to. It gives you insight and awareness. And through your awareness you have to decide your morality, your responsibility, your discipline, your very lifestyle. It is a totally different way of bringing you in tune with the universe.
It teaches you relaxation. It teaches you not to swim against the current -- you will never win. Just go with the river, floating, enjoying all that comes on the way: the trees and the stars in the night, and a sunrise and a sunset, and thousands of flowers. And the river... even the smallest river reaches to the ocean. So don't be worried. Big or small, it does not matter. Every dewdrop reaches finally to the ocean, and the ocean is our ultimate rest.
A little biographical note about Daiji, a famous Zen master.
DAIJI (780-862) WAS A FAMOUS DISCIPLE OF HYAKUJO. AT THE AGE OF TWENTY-NINE, HE BECAME A MONK, AND STUDIED BOTH THE SUTRAS AND THE ORDINANCES. HE SPENT SOME TIME WITH HYAKUJO, BECAME ENLIGHTENED, AND THEN MADE A HERMITAGE ON THE TOP OF A HILL.
LATER, HE WENT TO MOUNT DAIJI, WHERE HE EXPOUNDED ZEN, SAYING, "SIX FEET OF TALKING IS NOT AS GOOD AS ONE FOOT OF DOING; ONE FOOT OF TALKING IS NOT AS GOOD AS AN INCH OF DOING." HE RETURNED TO SECULAR LIFE FOR SOME TIME, THEN SHAVED HIS HEAD AGAIN, AND DIED AS A MONK.
He was saying that all this scholarship, all these scriptures, won't help. You will have to do something, you will have to dig into your own being. You cannot just like a parrot go on repeating long sutras. They are not going to be your liberation, they are your slavery. Only action with awareness -- it does not matter what is the action; the most ordinary action with awareness becomes religious, because it starts having a grace of its own, and a beauty that is transcendental.
To prove this, he himself moved into the ordinary life, into the marketplace, and lived for many years in the marketplace, proving that escaping to the mountains and the monasteries is not the right way. You can go there to learn meditation. Once you have learned it you have to come back to the world to share, to share your enlightenment.
Before dying, he went back to the mountains, shaved his head again, and died as a monk.
A beautiful statement:
"SIX FEET OF TALKING IS NOT AS GOOD AS ONE FOOT OF DOING; ONE FOOT OF TALKING IS NOT AS GOOD AS AN INCH OF DOING."
The sutra:
Maneesha has asked,
BELOVED BUDDHA,
ONCE, AFTER DAIJI HAD BECOME AN ENLIGHTENED MASTER, HE SAID TO HIS MONKS, "I'M NOT GOING TO EXPLAIN ANY MORE DEBATES; YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST A DISEASE."
All philosophy, all metaphysics, all theology, according to the enlightened ones, is nothing but the disease of the mind, the itching of the mind. If you itch too much, you may bring blood to your own mind, to your own body. It is a disease. Thinking, according to the enlightened masters, is a disease.
It will be good if you try to divide the word disease into its basic roots. It means: dis-ease. All thinking is dis-ease. It is a continuous torture inside, a constant rush hour of thoughts running like traffic. And you don't have even a single moment of rest. Even in your nights the thoughts become dreams -- more pictorial, more colorful, more enchanting. You become so absorbed....
Perhaps you have never observed: in the day, when you are awake, you may sometimes suspect, "Is it a real world that surrounds me or an illusion, a hallucination, a mirage?" At least the suspicion is possible.
But in the dream you cannot suspect that it is a dream; such is the grip. This state of affairs is not of health, not of wholeness; it is a sickness. It is a dis-ease.
So when Daiji had become an enlightened master, he said to his monks, "I'M NOT GOING TO EXPLAIN ANY MORE DEBATES; YOU KNOW, IT'S JUST A DISEASE."
Get beyond the thoughts and you enter into the world of real health, of real wholeness.
AT THIS, A MONK STOOD UP FROM THE ASSEMBLY AND CAME FORWARD; DAIJI WENT BACK TO HIS ROOM.
This going of the master to his room simply means, "Go to your rooms and sit in silence." Only in the silences of the heart one has heard the divine, one has felt the divine -- never in the thoughts.
ON ANOTHER OCCASION, WHEN DAIJI WAS SWEEPING THE GROUND, JOSHU ASKED HIM HOW TO MANIFEST PRAJNA.
DAIJI REPEATED, "HOW CAN WE MANIFEST PRAJNA?" AT THIS, JOSHU GAVE A GREAT LAUGH.
Prajna means ultimate wisdom. Naturally Joshu gave a great laugh -- the ultimate cannot be brought to the words, and it cannot be made into explanations. Just asking the question proves your ignorance. And in your ignorance, in your blindness, it is impossible even to indicate to you that the ultimate wisdom is already at the very center of your being, waiting, as a potential to be grown, to be supported, to be nourished. And soon the spring comes and your being starts blossoming into thousands of flowers.
THE NEXT DAY, SEEING JOSHU SWEEPING THE GROUND, DAIJI ASKED HIM, "HOW CAN WE MANIFEST PRAJNA -- THE ULTIMATE WISDOM?" JOSHU PUT DOWN HIS BROOM AND LAUGHED ALOUD, CLAPPING HIS HANDS.
DAIJI WENT BACK TO HIS ROOM.
Certainly Daiji has not yet come to the point where he can understand that there are things which cannot be understood, and there are mysteries which remain always mysteries. You can live them, you can sing them, you can dance them, but you cannot explain them.
Who has been able to explain what is beauty? Who has been able to explain what is truth? These mysteries have been experienced by many, by thousands down the ages in all parts of the world -- it is nobody's monopoly.
But still, whenever a man has come to this high peak of consciousness where mysteries are revealed, he immediately understands that there is no way to bring these mysteries down to the ground where explanations are possible, where debates are possible, where philosophical systems can be made.
Those who have known the mysterious, the miraculous, have moved ahead, deeper into the mysteries of existence. The ultimate mystery being the divineness of existence.
Buson wrote:
BLOSSOMS ON THE PEAR --
AND A WOMAN IN THE MOONLIGHT
READS A LETTER THERE.
These small haikus are not ordinary poetry. They simply depict a small scene which has brought some experience of beauty, truth, love, to the heart of the poet.
BLOSSOMS ON THE PEAR --
AND A WOMAN IN THE MOONLIGHT
READS A LETTER THERE...
... And silence abounds.
Next: Chapter 7: The world of the gurus has ended, Question 1
Energy Enhancement Enlightened Texts Zen No Mind: The FLowers of Eternity
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