Post by Pathfinder on Dec 25, 2022 12:13:01 GMT
There is a beautiful story about one of the very great mystics, Ashtavakra. The
word ASHTAVAKRA means that he was the ugliest man you can conceive of.
On eight points in his body, he was just like a camel; nothing was as it should be.
Everything was wrong. His eyes -- one would be looking to the left and one
would be looking to the right. His legs -- one would be going this way, one
would be going that way ....he was a very strange fellow. How he managed is
difficult to conceive.
There was a great spiritual discussion going on in the court of the king, Janak,
and all great scholars of the country had gathered there. Ashtavakra's father had
also gone -- he was a well-known, learned scholar and there was every chance
that he might win. And there was a great prize for the winner. But it was getting
late and Ashtavakra's mother told him, "You should go and tell your father that
it is so late, and the food is getting cold. He can come and take his food, and then
he can go back. That discussion is going to continue for days -- so many scholars
...it is not going to be finished in one day."
So Ashtavakra went into the court of the king, and every single scholar started
laughing. They had never seen such an ugly man -- everything was wrong.
Ashtavakra looked at everybody and said to the king, "I thought that you had
gathered the wise people of the land. But these people seem to be shoemakers,
because they can't see my being. They can only see my skin, my bones. Are these
people shoemakers or butchers? Certainly they are not enlightened; otherwise
they would not have laughed. Their laughter is a judgment; they are humiliating
me because of this wrong body. But whether the body is wrong or right does not
matter; what matters is my consciousness."
King Janak was so much impressed that he dissolved the council of those learned
people, and he said, "Now I don't need you. The man I wanted to listen to has
come. I wanted a man who knows the ways of awareness, consciousness, of the
innermost being. And he is right -- you are only learned, but you are not
enlightened."
An enlightened man has no judgment. He acts without thinking about it. He acts
out of no-mind. Hence his action has a beauty and grace and a truth and a
goodness and a divineness in it. ...YOU HAVE TO ACT WITHOUT ACTING.
ONLY THEN WILL YOU SEE THINGS FROM A TATHAGATA'S
PERSPECTIVE.
Bodhidharma The Greatest Zen Master Osho
Unless you come to awareness, spontaneity, total action, action without acting,
you cannot know the perspective of an enlightened man, his vision towards
things and life.
I have explained to you that a TATHAGATA is a man who accepts everything as
it is, in its SUCHNESS. He has no condemnation for anything and he has no
appreciation for anything. The camel is perfect as he is, in his suchness, and the
lion is perfect as he is, in his suchness. They are simply manifesting their own
nature.
A tathagata's perspective means accepting everybody as he is, without any
condemnation, without any judgment, respecting everybody as he is, in his
suchness. A tathagata never interferes in anybody's life, he never trespasses on
your territorial imperative. This is his nonviolence, this is his love, this is his
compassion.
But to understand his perspective, you will have to come a little closer to his
being. You will have to learn acting without acting, acting without your mind
interfering in it, acting with totality. And that is possible only when your whole
being is full of light, when you are enlightened, when all darkness has been
dispelled from you.
Bodhidharma now gives you a few hints. He has given you the goal, tathagata --
now he gives a few hints for the beginners on the path:
BUT WHEN YOU FIRST EMBARK ON THE PATH, YOUR AWARENESS
WON'T BE FOCUSED. It will be wavering. YOU'RE LIKELY TO SEE ALL
SORTS OF STRANGE, DREAMLIKE SCENES. BUT YOU SHOULDN'T DOUBT
THAT ALL SUCH SCENES COME FROM YOUR OWN MIND AND
NOWHERE ELSE.
So don't become attached to any dreamlike scene, howsoever sweet. Gautam
Buddha is reported to have said, "If you meet me on the path, immediately kill
me." He is talking about your meditation. If in your meditation you see Gautam
Buddha, your mind will try every possible way to convince you that you have
arrived -- even Gautam Buddha has appeared in your consciousness, now what
more do you want? Stop worshiping Gautam Buddha!
And so many so-called saints of the world have only stopped in such dreamlike
phenomena. There are Christian saints who have seen Christ and have thought
they have arrived, and the Christ is nothing but a projection of their own mind.
No Hindu ever sees Christ; the Hindu sees Krishna, the Hindu sees Rama. No
Christian ever sees Krishna or Buddha.
These are our conditionings. The mind is carrying the conditioning of Christ or
Krishna or Buddha and when you become a little silent, the conditioning comes
in front of you. And it is so alive that there is every possibility that you may get
deluded. Hence, Bodhidharma is making you aware that anything that happens
on the path in your meditation is just a projection of your mind and nothing else.
Remove it; whether it is Buddha or Christ or Krishna does not matter. You have
Bodhidharma The Greatest Zen Master Osho
to go far; you have to go to a point where nothing appears, where all projections
of the mind are left behind.
Then you have reached to the transcendental.
Then you have reached to your self-nature.
But before your self-nature is revealed, one experience Bodhidharma suggests
you remember:
IF YOU SEE A LIGHT BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN, YOUR REMAINING
ATTACHMENTS WILL SUDDENLY COME TO AN END, AND THE NATURE
OF REALITY WILL BE REVEALED. SUCH AN OCCURRENCE SERVES AS
THE BASIS FOR ENLIGHTENMENT.
It is not enlightenment, but it serves as a basis. IF YOU SEE A LIGHT BRIGHTER
THAN THE SUN ... because mind cannot project it. Mind can project only that
which it knows. The mind can project the sun, but the mind cannot project a
brighter sun which it has never known. IF YOU SEE A LIGHT BRIGHTER
THAN THE SUN .... Kabir says that in his meditation, it was as if one thousand
suns had suddenly risen all around him. The light was so blinding that even to
keep looking at it was scary. This is not enlightenment, but this is the beginning
of two things: the end of all your attachments -- as if they are burned by this light
-- and the creation of a basis for enlightenment.
BUT THIS IS SOMETHING ONLY YOU KNOW. YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN IT TO
OTHERS.
And in fact you should not talk about it to others because they will simply laugh.
They may make it ridiculous. They cannot accept that you are ready for
enlightenment -- particularly you, whom they know perfectly well -- and they
have always thought themselves higher than you, holier than you. You must be
cheating; you are trying to deceive but nobody is going to be deceived by you.
It is better not to talk about it, because by talking about it, they can destroy it by
their comments, by their criticism, by their ridicule. They can destroy the very
basis for enlightenment. It is better to keep it deep in your heart as a secret. It is
so valuable that you should not bring it out before others. ...OR IF, WHILE
YOU'RE WALKING, STANDING, SITTING OR LYING IN THE STILLNESS
AND DARKNESS OF NIGHT, EVERYTHING APPEARS AS THOUGH IN
DAYLIGHT, DON'T BE STARTLED. IT'S YOUR OWN no-MIND ABOUT TO
REVEAL ITSELF.
To different people enlightenment comes from different doors. It depends on
your uniqueness, your individuality. To some it may start with the happening of
a brighter sun, or a thousand suns. To somebody else it may start ...you are lying
in your bed in the night, in darkness, and suddenly you start seeing things as if it
is full daylight. Don't be startled, don't be afraid: it is a good sign. It will create
the basis for your enlightenment and it will destroy all your attachments. ...IF
YOU SEE YOUR NATURE, YOU DON'T NEED TO READ SUTRAS OR
INVOKE BUDDHAS. ERUDITION AND KNOWLEDGE ARE NOT ONLY
USELESS, THEY CLOUD YOUR AWARENESS.
Bodhidharma The Greatest Zen Master Osho
They are not only useless, they are also harmful, immensely harmful.
DOCTRINES ARE ONLY FOR POINTING TO THE no-MIND. ONCE YOU SEE
YOUR no-MIND, WHY PAY ATTENTION TO DOCTRINES?
There have been many instances of great masters who, when they became
enlightened, the first thing they did was to burn their scriptures -- their work
was finished. Their whole work was somehow to indicate to you your self, your
self-nature. And once you have seen your self-nature, all those doctrines are just
rubbish.
TO GO FROM MORTAL TO BUDDHA ...to go from death to deathlessness, to
go from divisions to transcendence, YOU HAVE TO PUT AN END to all your
actions. You have to learn the actionless action.
NURTURE YOUR AWARENESS AND ACCEPT WHAT LIFE BRINGS.
These are points to be remembered by everyone who is walking on the path:
NURTURE YOUR AWARENESS .... How does one nurture one's awareness?
Don't miss any opportunity to be aware: walking, walk with awareness .... I can
move my hand either without awareness or with awareness -- move your hand
with full awareness, and it will bring a great grace to your hand, and a great
peace and silence will be felt inside.
Eating, eat with awareness. Most of the time people are simply swallowing
unconsciously; that's why they eat too much, because their taste is not satisfied. If
they were eating with awareness, then they would not just be swallowing, they
would be chewing
word ASHTAVAKRA means that he was the ugliest man you can conceive of.
On eight points in his body, he was just like a camel; nothing was as it should be.
Everything was wrong. His eyes -- one would be looking to the left and one
would be looking to the right. His legs -- one would be going this way, one
would be going that way ....he was a very strange fellow. How he managed is
difficult to conceive.
There was a great spiritual discussion going on in the court of the king, Janak,
and all great scholars of the country had gathered there. Ashtavakra's father had
also gone -- he was a well-known, learned scholar and there was every chance
that he might win. And there was a great prize for the winner. But it was getting
late and Ashtavakra's mother told him, "You should go and tell your father that
it is so late, and the food is getting cold. He can come and take his food, and then
he can go back. That discussion is going to continue for days -- so many scholars
...it is not going to be finished in one day."
So Ashtavakra went into the court of the king, and every single scholar started
laughing. They had never seen such an ugly man -- everything was wrong.
Ashtavakra looked at everybody and said to the king, "I thought that you had
gathered the wise people of the land. But these people seem to be shoemakers,
because they can't see my being. They can only see my skin, my bones. Are these
people shoemakers or butchers? Certainly they are not enlightened; otherwise
they would not have laughed. Their laughter is a judgment; they are humiliating
me because of this wrong body. But whether the body is wrong or right does not
matter; what matters is my consciousness."
King Janak was so much impressed that he dissolved the council of those learned
people, and he said, "Now I don't need you. The man I wanted to listen to has
come. I wanted a man who knows the ways of awareness, consciousness, of the
innermost being. And he is right -- you are only learned, but you are not
enlightened."
An enlightened man has no judgment. He acts without thinking about it. He acts
out of no-mind. Hence his action has a beauty and grace and a truth and a
goodness and a divineness in it. ...YOU HAVE TO ACT WITHOUT ACTING.
ONLY THEN WILL YOU SEE THINGS FROM A TATHAGATA'S
PERSPECTIVE.
Bodhidharma The Greatest Zen Master Osho
Unless you come to awareness, spontaneity, total action, action without acting,
you cannot know the perspective of an enlightened man, his vision towards
things and life.
I have explained to you that a TATHAGATA is a man who accepts everything as
it is, in its SUCHNESS. He has no condemnation for anything and he has no
appreciation for anything. The camel is perfect as he is, in his suchness, and the
lion is perfect as he is, in his suchness. They are simply manifesting their own
nature.
A tathagata's perspective means accepting everybody as he is, without any
condemnation, without any judgment, respecting everybody as he is, in his
suchness. A tathagata never interferes in anybody's life, he never trespasses on
your territorial imperative. This is his nonviolence, this is his love, this is his
compassion.
But to understand his perspective, you will have to come a little closer to his
being. You will have to learn acting without acting, acting without your mind
interfering in it, acting with totality. And that is possible only when your whole
being is full of light, when you are enlightened, when all darkness has been
dispelled from you.
Bodhidharma now gives you a few hints. He has given you the goal, tathagata --
now he gives a few hints for the beginners on the path:
BUT WHEN YOU FIRST EMBARK ON THE PATH, YOUR AWARENESS
WON'T BE FOCUSED. It will be wavering. YOU'RE LIKELY TO SEE ALL
SORTS OF STRANGE, DREAMLIKE SCENES. BUT YOU SHOULDN'T DOUBT
THAT ALL SUCH SCENES COME FROM YOUR OWN MIND AND
NOWHERE ELSE.
So don't become attached to any dreamlike scene, howsoever sweet. Gautam
Buddha is reported to have said, "If you meet me on the path, immediately kill
me." He is talking about your meditation. If in your meditation you see Gautam
Buddha, your mind will try every possible way to convince you that you have
arrived -- even Gautam Buddha has appeared in your consciousness, now what
more do you want? Stop worshiping Gautam Buddha!
And so many so-called saints of the world have only stopped in such dreamlike
phenomena. There are Christian saints who have seen Christ and have thought
they have arrived, and the Christ is nothing but a projection of their own mind.
No Hindu ever sees Christ; the Hindu sees Krishna, the Hindu sees Rama. No
Christian ever sees Krishna or Buddha.
These are our conditionings. The mind is carrying the conditioning of Christ or
Krishna or Buddha and when you become a little silent, the conditioning comes
in front of you. And it is so alive that there is every possibility that you may get
deluded. Hence, Bodhidharma is making you aware that anything that happens
on the path in your meditation is just a projection of your mind and nothing else.
Remove it; whether it is Buddha or Christ or Krishna does not matter. You have
Bodhidharma The Greatest Zen Master Osho
to go far; you have to go to a point where nothing appears, where all projections
of the mind are left behind.
Then you have reached to the transcendental.
Then you have reached to your self-nature.
But before your self-nature is revealed, one experience Bodhidharma suggests
you remember:
IF YOU SEE A LIGHT BRIGHTER THAN THE SUN, YOUR REMAINING
ATTACHMENTS WILL SUDDENLY COME TO AN END, AND THE NATURE
OF REALITY WILL BE REVEALED. SUCH AN OCCURRENCE SERVES AS
THE BASIS FOR ENLIGHTENMENT.
It is not enlightenment, but it serves as a basis. IF YOU SEE A LIGHT BRIGHTER
THAN THE SUN ... because mind cannot project it. Mind can project only that
which it knows. The mind can project the sun, but the mind cannot project a
brighter sun which it has never known. IF YOU SEE A LIGHT BRIGHTER
THAN THE SUN .... Kabir says that in his meditation, it was as if one thousand
suns had suddenly risen all around him. The light was so blinding that even to
keep looking at it was scary. This is not enlightenment, but this is the beginning
of two things: the end of all your attachments -- as if they are burned by this light
-- and the creation of a basis for enlightenment.
BUT THIS IS SOMETHING ONLY YOU KNOW. YOU CAN'T EXPLAIN IT TO
OTHERS.
And in fact you should not talk about it to others because they will simply laugh.
They may make it ridiculous. They cannot accept that you are ready for
enlightenment -- particularly you, whom they know perfectly well -- and they
have always thought themselves higher than you, holier than you. You must be
cheating; you are trying to deceive but nobody is going to be deceived by you.
It is better not to talk about it, because by talking about it, they can destroy it by
their comments, by their criticism, by their ridicule. They can destroy the very
basis for enlightenment. It is better to keep it deep in your heart as a secret. It is
so valuable that you should not bring it out before others. ...OR IF, WHILE
YOU'RE WALKING, STANDING, SITTING OR LYING IN THE STILLNESS
AND DARKNESS OF NIGHT, EVERYTHING APPEARS AS THOUGH IN
DAYLIGHT, DON'T BE STARTLED. IT'S YOUR OWN no-MIND ABOUT TO
REVEAL ITSELF.
To different people enlightenment comes from different doors. It depends on
your uniqueness, your individuality. To some it may start with the happening of
a brighter sun, or a thousand suns. To somebody else it may start ...you are lying
in your bed in the night, in darkness, and suddenly you start seeing things as if it
is full daylight. Don't be startled, don't be afraid: it is a good sign. It will create
the basis for your enlightenment and it will destroy all your attachments. ...IF
YOU SEE YOUR NATURE, YOU DON'T NEED TO READ SUTRAS OR
INVOKE BUDDHAS. ERUDITION AND KNOWLEDGE ARE NOT ONLY
USELESS, THEY CLOUD YOUR AWARENESS.
Bodhidharma The Greatest Zen Master Osho
They are not only useless, they are also harmful, immensely harmful.
DOCTRINES ARE ONLY FOR POINTING TO THE no-MIND. ONCE YOU SEE
YOUR no-MIND, WHY PAY ATTENTION TO DOCTRINES?
There have been many instances of great masters who, when they became
enlightened, the first thing they did was to burn their scriptures -- their work
was finished. Their whole work was somehow to indicate to you your self, your
self-nature. And once you have seen your self-nature, all those doctrines are just
rubbish.
TO GO FROM MORTAL TO BUDDHA ...to go from death to deathlessness, to
go from divisions to transcendence, YOU HAVE TO PUT AN END to all your
actions. You have to learn the actionless action.
NURTURE YOUR AWARENESS AND ACCEPT WHAT LIFE BRINGS.
These are points to be remembered by everyone who is walking on the path:
NURTURE YOUR AWARENESS .... How does one nurture one's awareness?
Don't miss any opportunity to be aware: walking, walk with awareness .... I can
move my hand either without awareness or with awareness -- move your hand
with full awareness, and it will bring a great grace to your hand, and a great
peace and silence will be felt inside.
Eating, eat with awareness. Most of the time people are simply swallowing
unconsciously; that's why they eat too much, because their taste is not satisfied. If
they were eating with awareness, then they would not just be swallowing, they
would be chewing