You cannot see with your ears

"I KNOW," SAID THE CONFUCIAN, "ALL BUDDHISM IS ALIKE. A FEW MOMENTS AGO I MET

"YES," ANSWERED THE CHIEF MONK.

Maneesha, there are things which mind is naturally incapable of understanding. The mind has limitations, but our ego does not want to accept the limitations of the mind.

Every sense has its own limitation. You cannot see with your ears and you cannot hear with your eyes. In the same way, you can see objects with the mind but you cannot see the beyond, the formless with the mind. To the mind it will look absurd - just as to the blind man light is absurd and to the deaf, no music exists in the world. Those who have become too much identified with the mind and unfortunately all the civilizations and cultures that have existed in the world have enforced and reinforced the mind....

Zen is alone and unique. It points beyond the mind. So remember not to try to understand rationally, intelligently. Only in deep meditation and silence will you be able to feel the significance of these small anecdotes. They have something hidden in them, but it is not possible for the mind to figure it out. Put the mind aside, and suddenly you can see the truth which mind was blocking. As far as Zen is concerned, mind is a block to reality. Except mind, nobody is hindering you declaring your buddhahood this very moment.

HYAKUJO - a great Zen master - NEEDED TO SELECT A MONK TO BE THE MASTER OF A NEW MONASTERY THAT WAS TO BE ESTABLISHED ON THE MOUNTAIN OF TA-KUEI-SHAN.

HE CALLED THE COOK OF HIS MONASTERY AND TOLD HIM HE HAD BEEN CHOSEN.

Before I proceed I have to say something about the cook, otherwise you will not be able to understand the whole story. This cook had entered the monastery as a young man thirty years before the incident when he was called by the master. Thirty years before when he had first entered, he had asked the master Hyakujo, "I don't know what I am searching for, I don't know the question; hence I cannot ask anything. If out of your compassion you can show me the way, I will be infinitely grateful." Hyakujo's monastery had one thousand monks, great scholars, intellectuals, philosophers.

The poor man who had come said, "All that I can do is cook. I am uneducated."

The master said, "There is no problem. You start cooking. Just remember one thing: never come again to me. Whenever I need to, I will call you. Don't ask anyone anything; just remain like a shadow, working."

In China and Japan, rice is the main food. The cook was preparing rice for a thousand monks. He would get up early in the morning and go to bed late at night. There was no time for questioning, nor did he have any question. Just think: thirty years, cleaning rice, cooking rice. He became completely silent. He was not doing any meditation, but the mind was not needed. His work was so simple that mind retired on its own.

People had even forgotten that there was a monk who never came to the assembly, who never asked anything, who never read any sutra. People had no idea even what his name was because he had never told anybody. Nobody had asked... even the master had not asked. This was the first time he had been called, when he was told he had been chosen to be the head of the new monastery that was being opened on a nearby mountain.

The master had been watching for thirty years. As the man became silent, his whole aura, his whole energy started showing the same light that surrounds a buddha. The master had been waiting for the right time. He called the cook and said, "You are to be the chief of the new monastery." Amongst one thousand scholars... choosing the cook, who knows nothing about Buddhism, who knows nothing about meditation, who knows nothing at all.

BUT THE CHIEF MONK - Hyakujo's monastery of a thousand monks has one chief monk for day-to- day affairs - OVERHEARD HYAKUJO'S CONVERSATION WITH THE COOK AND SAID, "NO ONE CAN SAY THAT THE COOK MONK IS BETTER THAN THE CHIEF MONK. I am the chief, and this is such stupidity that the cook should become the head of a great monastery on the mountain."

SO HYAKUJO CALLED ALL THE MONKS TOGETHER AND TOLD THEM THE SITUATION. HE SAID THAT ANYONE WHO GAVE THE CORRECT ANSWER TO HIS QUESTION WOULD BE A CANDIDATE FOR THE POSITION IN THE NEW MONASTERY.

HYAKUJO THEN POINTED TO A WATER PITCHER STANDING ON THE FLOOR AND SAID, "WITHOUT TELLING ME ITS NAME, TELL ME WHAT IT IS."

THE CHIEF MONK SAID, "YOU CANNOT CALL IT A WOODEN SHOE."

This was not accepted. It said nothing about the water pitcher.

WHEN NO ONE ELSE ANSWERED, HYAKUJO TURNED TO THE COOK. THE COOK STEPPED FORWARD, TIPPED OVER THE PITCHER WITH HIS FOOT AND THEN LEFT THE ROOM.

HYAKUJO SMILED AND SAID, "THE CHIEF MONK LOST."

The cook had said everything about the pitcher without uttering a single word. And he did not even wait to see whether he was chosen or not. Such unconcern for position, for power! Only such a man could be chosen to be the chief of a monastery where people are going to meditate.

THE COOK MONK WAS MADE HEAD OF THE MONASTERY AND LIVED THERE MANY YEARS TEACHING MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND MONKS IN ZEN.

It has been a wonder in the Zen tradition how the cook managed. He was absolutely uneducated.

All that he had done his whole life was cook. Yet he managed to teach Zen to one thousand monks.

The anecdote simply indicates that Zen is not an education, it is an experience. It is available to all:

the uneducated, the educated, the young, the old, the brahmin, the sudra. It is available to all, if you can become silent.

The cook knew only how to be silent. He had become silent and he helped other people: "Just do the work you are doing the way I have been cooking for thirty years. Whatever you choose in the monastery do it with your totality. Here, there is no question, no answer - no scholarship. Just act with your totality - continuously - and wait for the right time."

The flower blossoms and the rain comes, the sun rises and the birds sing. Just like that - absolutely naturally - silence sprouts within you, brings flowers of the unknown, fills you with immense fulfillment. You know, although you cannot say a single word about it: you experience, but you have no explanation.

Life is a mystery that is the very essence of Zen.

Daiten replied in another incident when Kantaishi, a Confucian scholar... again I have to say something about Confucius. He is certainly nothing but confusion. His name absolutely gives the explanation about himself. He was a great scholar, perhaps the greatest that China has produced, and the most influential man in China's whole history.

He was a contemporary of Lao Tzu and had thousands of students. He was really a great intellect:

he created the whole Chinese logic, and made all the social rules, ethos, morality. He controlled Chinese politics, and taught the kings and princes how to rule. He was a great man in every way.

But his students many times told him, "A great desire arises in us. You should meet Lao Tzu."

Lao Tzu was unknown: a very small group of drop-outs followed him. He was such a strange fellow that no straightforward man was ever going to be close to him. He had his own way which eventually merged with Bodhidharma's.

Zen is the product of Bodhidharma and Lao Tzu: it is a crossbreed. Lao Tzu created great disciples like Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu but he could not create a religion, because he was against any organization; and he could not create scriptures because he was against saying something which cannot be said.

But still people felt, "That man has experienced something which we are missing. He is so content, with such grace, such beauty."

The disciples of Confucius told him, "He is by chance staying near here in a cave by the side of the river. It is a great chance for you both to meet. We would love to see what transpires."

It was below the ego of Confucius, but because again and again he was asked, he finally said, "Okay, I will come. I will see who this fellow is."

But he was also afraid. Every knowledgeable person is afraid, because basically he knows all his knowledge is borrowed. When an authentic person stands in front of him, the knower is absolutely naked, all his clothes drop off. He was afraid that Lao Tzu may be a dangerous experience, so he told his disciples to wait outside the cave. First he would go alone, get acquainted with Lao Tzu and then he would come out and take all the disciples in to meet Lao Tzu.

Within a few seconds he came out perspiring and told his disciples, "We are not going to see him again. And never ask me again. That man is dangerous, very dangerous. He is not a man but a dragon. Never even touch his shadow."

What had transpired in that cave? What did Lao Tzu do to Confucius? The same as what happens when you encounter a lion. Lao Tzu was not a man of social conformity: he was not orthodox. He did not believe in any religion; he did not believe in any God; he did not believe in any morality.

He told Confucius, "You are confused and you are confusing others. First get totally conscious of your own being." That he calls tao. That is what Buddha calls dhamma. We can call it the truth, the ultimate truth. "First become acquainted with your inner nature and then talk about right and wrong and all that kind of nonsense. It is good that you have come because I was thinking one day to come and hit you on your head."

Confucius could not say a single word because it was all quite right: he had no idea who he was.

Standing bare, naked before the disciples of Lao Tzu, he felt very much ashamed; he started perspiring. Lao Tzu shouted at him, "Get out if you cannot get in."

He escaped immediately to his disciples where he was a great man, a great scholar - even kings were his followers. He told his disciples, "Never, never come across this fellow. He will destroy you. He will take away your personality. He will leave you utterly innocent when education is needed, culture is needed, civilization is needed. That man is absolutely against any education, any civilization, any culture. He wants only freedom and spiritual growth."

This incident happened between Kantaishi, a Confucian scholar, and Daiten, a Zen master.

Kantaishi asked the Zen master, "How old are you?"

There was a period of silence. Daiten looked into the eyes of the Confucian scholar, held out his rosary and said, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

KANTAISHI SAID, "NO, I CANNOT UNDERSTAND."

DAITEN REPLIED, "IN THE DAYTIME THERE ARE ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT BEADS AND AT NIGHT THERE ARE ALSO ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT."

KANTAISHI WAS VERY MUCH DISPLEASED BECAUSE HE COULD NOT UNDERSTAND THIS OLD MONK, AND HE RETURNED HOME.

AT HOME HIS WIFE ASKED, "WHAT MAKES YOU SO DISPLEASED?"

THE SCHOLAR THEN TOLD HIS WIFE ALL THAT HAS HAPPENED.

"WHY NOT GO BACK TO THE MONASTERY AND ASK THE OLD MONK WHAT HE MEANT?" HIS WIFE SUGGESTED.

NEXT DAY, EARLY IN THE MORNING, KANTAISHI WENT TO THE MONASTERY, WHERE HE MET THE CHIEF MONK AT THE GATE.

"WHY ARE YOU SO EARLY?" THE CHIEF MONK ASKED.

"I WISH TO SEE YOUR MASTER AND QUESTION HIM," KANTAISHI ANSWERED.

"WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS WITH HIM?" THE CHIEF MONK ASKED. SO THE CONFUCIAN REPEATED HIS STORY.

"WHY DON'T YOU ASK ME?" THE CHIEF MONK INQUIRED.

KANTAISHI THEN SAID, "WHAT DOES 'ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT BEADS IN THE DAYTIME AND ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT BEADS AT NIGHT TIME' MEAN?"

THE CHIEF MONK CLICKED HIS TEETH THREE TIMES.

AT LAST KANTAISHI MET DAITEN AND ONCE MORE ASKED HIS QUESTION, WHEREUPON THE MASTER CLICKED HIS TEETH THREE TIMES.

"I KNOW," SAID THE CONFUCIAN, "ALL BUDDHISM IS ALIKE. A FEW MOMENTS AGO I MET THE CHIEF MONK AT THE GATE AND ASKED HIM THE SAME QUESTION AND HE ANSWERED ME IN THE SAME WAY."

DAITEN CALLED THE CHIEF MONK AND SAID, "I UNDERSTAND YOU SHOWED HIM BUDDHISM A FEW MINUTES AGO. IS IT TRUE?"

"YES," ANSWERED THE CHIEF MONK.

DAITEN STRUCK THE CHIEF MONK AND IMMEDIATELY EXPELLED HIM FROM THE MONASTERY.

This has been asked again and again in the history of Zen. What transpired? First, the master is telling the disciple to be the same in the day and in the night, to be the same in suffering and in rejoicing, the same when young or when old, to be the same when alive and when dead. That was the meaning of showing the rosary which remains the same whether it is day or night.

The puzzle is that the chief monk of the monastery answered in the same way. When the Confucian scholar came the second time, the chief monk was at the gate. He clicked his teeth three times. The Confucian scholar was even more confused. The first time he had come to ask, "What does it mean by showing a rosary and saying that it remains the same in the night and in the day?" And now this chief monk has given him another problem. He clicked his teeth three times.

But he did not take this answer, he wanted to ask the master himself. The master also clicked his teeth three times. Clicking the teeth three times is a symbol in Zen meaning, "You can go on asking, but it does not help. One mystery will be answered by another mystery." Clicking three times gives you a chance to put the mind aside and just listen to the clicking of the teeth.

The master is saying, "All philosophy, all questions, all answers are nothing but the clicking of teeth.

Stop all this nonsense." But the scholar said, "That means that Buddhism is the same." He cannot put his mind aside. Where is Buddhism in this? The rosary is not Buddhist, nor is being the same in the day and the night. And what is Buddhist in clicking your teeth? But because the chief monk has also clicked his teeth, his mind, the scholarly mind, concludes, "It seems both these people are saying that Buddhism is the same everywhere."

When he said, "I KNOW ALL BUDDHISM IS ALIKE. A FEW MOMENTS AGO I MET THE CHIEF MONK AT THE GATE AND ASKED HIM THE QUESTION AND HE ANSWERED ME IN THE SAME WAY."

DAITEN CALLED THE CHIEF MONK AND SAID, "I UNDERSTAND YOU SHOWED HIM BUDDHISM A FEW MINUTES AGO? IS IT TRUE?"

"YES," ANSWERED THE CHIEF.

DAITEN STRUCK THE CHIEF MONK AND IMMEDIATELY EXPELLED HIM FROM THE MONASTERY.

The question has been asked why the chief monk was expelled from the monastery. His education is complete. Zen has its own way of certifying; he has graduated. You can never take Zen for granted.

Every Zen master has his own way and that was his way of telling him, "Now there is no need to be here. Get out! You have graduated. Now you know. So why waste time? Give the place to somebody else, some other unwise person, some other seeker, and you go and spread what you have understood."

This expulsion is not ordinary expulsion. This expulsion is a certificate. Zen is so strange in its way; when it wants to appreciate it hits, it beats. But its whole effort is to open you up to the unknown no- mind. Once you experience the silence of your being, there is nothing more to be learned, nothing more to be gained, nothing more to be known, nowhere to go. There is just a laugh that you have been such an idiot, searching for yourself when you have been always in, while you were searching all over the world.

Question 1:

Maneesha's question is:

Maneesha, I have not been here for thirty-five years. And in this absence of thirty-five years I have been trying to help everybody be as absent as I am. In this absence, I have known the greatest ecstasy and I have known life in its pure essence without any reason or rhyme, just as flowers blossom and spread their fragrance. There is no effort in it. Without any effort I have been sharing myself to anyone who by chance has come across me.

I am not, and I want you also to be not. The more you are, the more you will suffer. The more you are, the more you are in hell. If you want to be more, go to Europe and do Fischer-Hoffmann therapy. That leads you directly to hell. Its whole effort is to make you more, stronger, to give you a personality.

Here, my whole work is anti Fischer-Hoffmann. I want you to be nobody, nothing, just a silence; because only in this silence have buddhas blossomed. Every day you have some feel of it. One day, suddenly, this feel will become your very breathing, the very beating of your heart. I declare this assembly to be the most blessed on the earth at this moment. Everywhere, there is the clicking of teeth. This small assembly of seekers is moving in a totally different dimension to the mind. It is moving in the dimension of no thought, no feeling, no emotion - just pure nothingness.

Once you have attained to pure nothingness you have found the dance of the universal, of the eternal. You have found the meaning of life. There is no other way to find the significance and the fragrance of your own being.

Before we enter into our silence, into the very essence of Zen, the bamboos are silent, waiting for a few laughs from you. Shunyo informed me yesterday that, since these meditations, since this silence and this laughter have begun, the bamboos have grown so much and new sprouts have come.

Just for these bamboos, particularly for the new ones...

The famous Indian driver, Rambo Rickshaw, is chewing pan and hanging out at the Kit-Kat Restaurant. Suddenly, Swami Herschel comes running up. "Quick!" says Herschel, "I am sick!

Do you know where Ruby Hall is?"

"How are you?" says Rambo Rickshaw. "What is your country?"

"Please, I'm very ill," pleads Herschel. "Do you know Ruby Hall?"

"Where you are going? England? Are you England-man?" asks Rambo.

"Help," moans Herschel, turning a little green "... Ruby Hall."

"Airport going? No problem!" says Rambo.

"Quickly," gasps Herschel, lying in the back seat. "Can you take me to..."

"Where you are going?" says Rambo. "Germany? Are you Germany-man?"

"Aaahhg!" groans Herschel.

"M.G. Road? Shopping? Change money?" asks Rambo Rickshaw.

"No, no, Ruby Hall, Ruby Hall!" gasps Herschel.

"Ruby Hall? That is hospital. You are sick?" says Rambo.

"Jesus Christ!" yells Herschel.

"Oh, you are American," smiles Rambo. "I know California. You want Poona tour?"

"No!" cries Herschel, "I want fucking Ruby Hall!"

"Fucking who?" shouts Rambo Rickshaw. "No! Get out! No fucking here!"

One Saturday night George ends up at a party in an unfamiliar apartment building. He gets very drunk, but somehow finds his way home in the small hours of the morning. He wakes up the next afternoon with a terrible hangover, and he realizes that he has left his jacket, tie, shirt and shoes at the party.

With much difficulty he finds the apartment building, but has no idea which apartment he had been in. The only thing he remembers is that it had a magnificent gold toilet. So he knocks at the first apartment. The door is answered by a man with a hangover.

"Hello," says George, "did you have a party here last night?"

"We sure did," groans the man.

"And do you have a gold toilet?" asks George.

"A gold toilet? We sure don't!" replies the man.

This happens in almost every apartment. Everyone is recovering from a party, but no one knows anything about a gold toilet.

At the last apartment, the door is opened by a man with a hangover. "Hello," says George, "did you have a party last night?"

"Boy! We sure did," groans the man.

"And do you have a gold toilet?" asks George.

There is a long silence. Finally, the man shouts back into the apartment, "Hey, Harry! Here is the guy who shit in your tuba!"

God is speaking to Moses on the mountain, and Moses is shaking his head in disbelief.

With his face upturned towards heaven, Moses says, "Now let me get this straight, God. You are telling me that we are the chosen people, and so you want us to cut off the tips of our what?"

Now, let God figure it out. Obviously, he cannot use a dirty word. He is in the same difficulty as Zen.

He knows what it is but he cannot say it.

Rupesh, the first drum and everybody goes crazy.

(Drumbeat)

(Gibberish)

Rupesh...

(Drumbeat)

Everyone becomes silent.

Close your eyes, no movement.

Just go in.

Deeper and deeper.

You don't have to lose anything.

You can only find yourself.

This is the way

that leads to your ultimate destiny.

This is the quantum leap

from mind to no-mind.

Just be.

Rupesh...

(Drumbeat)

Everyone dies.

Die completely.

Body continues breathing - no harm.

You just go in.

At the most, you may not return.

But don't hesitate

because ahead of you is eternity.

Just a moment, a jump from the mortal

into the immortal.

Rupesh...

(Drumbeat)

Come back to life, resurrected, new.

Let the past die

so that you can be unburdened, light,

and you can have wings to fly.

Okay, Maneesha?

Yes, Osho.

Can we celebrate for those who have resurrected?

YES!