Be ready to be chopped

My Friends,

I have been waiting to answer a few idiots. I will not mention their names for the simple reason that idiots don't have names - just to be an idiot is enough.

The first idiot was very angry - he is a leader of the sudras who have been converted to Buddhism.

He was angry because he thinks that I am a "self-styled buddha."

I call this kind of people idiots because they don't understand a simple thing: Who has styled Gautam Buddha, if he was not self-styled? Who has styled Mahavira, Krishna and Rama? They were all self- styled. Only idiots are born; geniuses have to assert their individuality, they are basically self-styled.

There is nothing wrong in it.

But this is the beauty of the idiots: they cannot think. They have never thought, although they have become Buddhists.

In Hinduism there is no such thing as the buddha. In Jainism, the Jaina tirthankaras have been primarily called jinnas, the conquerors, and secondarily, buddhas.

Gautam Buddha tried to be a jinna, because that was prestigious. It was a long heritage, more ancient than Hinduism, because the first tirthankara of the Jainas is mentioned with respect in the ancientmost Hindu scripture, Rigveda. The first tirthankara is called "Adinatha the Jinna."

It was a respectable heritage, and it was a very difficult contest. Eight people were trying to be accepted by the Jainas as their twenty-fourth and last jinna.

Buddha was also one of the contestants. He was being defeated by Mahavira for the simple reason that Mahavira was more masochistic; his whole philosophy was that of self-torture. Buddha could not do that. Being defeated, he immediately grabbed the second word which has been used by Jainas, which was the 'buddha'. He could not become the Jinna, so he declared himself the Buddha.

Now these idiots of Maharashtra and this small fraction of untouchables converted to Buddhism are condemning me as a "self-styled buddha." First think about your own Gautam Buddha!

The second idiot, also a leader of the converted Buddhists - they are confined only to Maharashtra, a very small minority - has said that if I want to be the Buddha, I will have to renounce all luxuries.

I call these people idiots because they don't know exactly what they are talking about. I will tell you a story about Gautam Buddha; perhaps this will help these idiots to understand.

Buddha renounced in ignorance, not as a buddha. He renounced his palace and kingdom and luxuries, not as a buddha - he was as ignorant as you are. He was in search of light, he was in darkness and doubt. He was as blind as anyone can be. In this blindness, in this darkness, he thought perhaps renouncing the kingdom, renouncing all comforts and luxuries was going to help him find truth.

What relationship is there? If this is the truth, that you have to renounce the kingdom, then how many people have kingdoms? Then the people who don't have kingdoms cannot become buddhas.

And how big was the kingdom? Do you understand? - there were two thousand kingdoms in India at the time of Buddha. His kingdom was not more than a small tehsil - a part of a district.

But when he became enlightened he came back to his palace to see his old father, whom he had betrayed in a way, because he had been hoping that in his old age his son would take over the burden of the kingdom, but instead he escaped. He was coming back after twelve years to ask forgiveness from the old man, and also his wife, and his son who was now grown twelve years... the night he was born was the night Gautam Buddha had escaped from the kingdom.

He had gone to see the face of the child, but the child was clinging to the mother and they were covered with blankets. He was afraid to wake up the wife because she might create some tantrum, and his renunciation of the world might be prevented - or delayed, certainly. So he left from the door without seeing the face of his child.

After twelve years, when he became enlightened, the first thing he did was to go back to his kingdom.

The father was very angry, but Buddha stood in absolute silence. When the father had said whatever he wanted to say, when his rage was finished, he looked again at the face of the Buddha - he was absolutely unaffected. When his father had calmed down, Buddha said to him, "You are unnecessarily being angry with me. I am not the same person who left the palace. I am a new being, with eyes to see. I have achieved the ultimate. Just look at my face, my silence; look into my eyes and the depth of my eyes. Don't be angry, I have just come to ask your forgiveness that I had to renounce the kingdom. But I have brought a bigger kingdom of the inner, and I have come to share it with you, and all."

Then he entered into the palace to meet his wife. Of course she was angry... but she also belonged to a big empire. She was the daughter of a far bigger kingdom, and as the daughter of a great warrior she had waited for these twelve years without saying a word. What she said is immensely amazing.

She said to Gautam Buddha, "I am not angry that you renounced the kingdom. I am angry that you did not say anything to me when you left. Do you think I would have prevented you? I am also the daughter of a great warrior...."

Buddha felt very embarrassed; he had never thought about it. Her anger was not that he had renounced the kingdom - that was his business. Her anger was that he did not trust in her, in her love; that he did not trust in her and thought she would have interfered in his renunciation. She was not that type of ordinary woman; she would have rejoiced that he was renouncing the kingdom.

Buddha had to ask forgiveness.

His wife - her name was Yashodhara - said, "For these twelve years I have been carrying only one question to ask to you. And that question is: whatever you have attained - and certainly you have attained something, I can see it in your eyes, on your face, in your grace. My question is: Whatever you have attained, was it not possible to attain it in the palace, in the kingdom? Was renunciation necessary?"

Gautam Buddha said, "At that time I thought so, because for centuries it has been said that unless you renounce the world you cannot find the ultimate truth. But now I can say with absolute certainty, whatever has happened to me could have happened in the kingdom, in the palace; there was no need to go anywhere."

This is my answer to the stupid.

I am not an ignorant person. My buddhahood has nothing to do with Gautam the Buddha, and I am not a Buddhist, remember it. Just as Buddha was - call it "self-styled" - I am also an individual in my own right. It has nothing to do with your Gautam Buddha. That's why I have called myself Zorba The Buddha, just to make the distinction clear.

But the idiots can neither think nor can they hear.

The third idiot is a professor belonging to the same converted untouchables. Today he has given a press conference in which he says, "Shree Rajneesh has not been initiated. How can he be a Buddhist?"

Who told him that I am a Buddhist? I am a buddha, and it has nothing to do with your Gautam Buddha.

And can I ask the idiot professor - it is very rare - who initiated Gautam Buddha? If he can be without any initiation, why can I not be?

He has also said, "Shree Rajneesh should be an ordinary human being."

That's what a buddha is: an ordinary human being.

But it is strange that in a vast state like Maharashtra only three idiots have spoken. Other idiots must be keeping quiet, knowing that I will chop their heads!

Yes, I am an ordinary human being - but that's exactly what 'the buddha' means. Look into the Buddhist scriptures. To be an ordinary human being is the most extraordinary thing in the world.

But it is not coincidence that all these idiots belong to this small sect of Buddhists. I have known the people who converted these untouchables. These sudras, who have been living in slavery, utter slavery and oppression, for twenty-five centuries, suddenly have become very vocal.

The people who initiated them into Buddhism I have known very well. One was Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan, the other was Bhikkshu Dharma Rakshita. Under the political guidance of Doctor Ambedkar, who was an untouchable, these two Buddhists converted a fraction of sudras. Doctor Ambedkar was from Maharashtra, Bhadant Ananda Kausalyayan lived in Nagpur - which is now part of Maharashtra. But neither was Bhadant Anand Kausalyayan a buddha, nor was Bhikkshu Dharma Rakshita a buddha. Both were Buddhists. And to be initiated by Buddhists is nothing spiritual.

Initiation by a buddha may have some meaning, but initiation by Buddhist scholars can't have any meaning as far as those who know are concerned.

I can see clearly that these people are angry. They are angry against Hindus. But anger is as blind as love. I am not a Hindu, I don't belong to any organization. Now they are enraged against me, not knowing that I have been always favoring the untouchables. I have been a friend to these untouchables, whether they are in the Hindu fold or they have become Buddhists does not matter.

Their inferiority complex is tremendous. Perhaps nobody in the whole world carries such inferiority as these people.

It was five thousand years ago that a Hindu scholar, Manu, created the caste system, and for five thousand years Hindus have followed it. Not a single untouchable has the guts to revolt against it.

Just today, the news has come that one untouchable has been selling coconuts before a Hindu temple and suddenly people remembered that he is an untouchable, and he is selling coconuts to people, and people bring those coconuts to the temple. As the word spread, the untouchables were beaten, their shops were burnt....

These people for five thousand years have lived just like animals, cattle. Naturally a deep wound of inferiority has been created in their psyche. Just because they have become converted to Buddhism does not mean that their inferiority complex of five thousand years will be simply erased. It is because of that wound, which is still oozing with pus, that they have spoken against me, a friend.

For a moment I thought all my efforts to support the untouchables, knowing perfectly well that this would bring only condemnation from the Hindus, from the Jainas... when I saw these people speaking against me, for a moment I thought perhaps Manu was right.

The basis of Manu's whole sociology was that the untouchables are souls coming from past lives who, because of their evil acts are born untouchables. Hence they should not be treated as human beings. Obviously, if you treat people like cattle, they go on collecting as much anger and rage as possible.

Speaking against me - who does not belong to any organized religion, who has declined to be a host to Gautam Buddha's wandering soul... I have to remind them that before making any statements about me they should try to understand my philosophy of Zorba the Buddha. It has nothing to do with your Gautam Buddha. And I am absolutely capable to announce myself as an Awakened One - self-styled!

I am not against luxury, I am not against comforts. I am absolutely in favor of luxury and comforts, because the more a luxurious and comfortable life is available to people, the more meditation is possible, the more relaxation is possible.

But these poor untouchables cannot understand anything except poverty. They are poor and they want others also to be poor.

I hate poverty! I want everyone on this earth to be as rich as possible - in both ways, outside and inside. The Zorba is representative of the outside richness of living, and the Buddha is representative of the inside experience of ultimate splendor.

I am bringing to the world a totally new message; hence there is bound to be misunderstanding. But remember perfectly that anybody who raises his voice against me should support it with evidence and logic - and be ready to be chopped!

Maneesha has brought a few sutras. Before the sutras, a little biographical note:

The sutra:

Shokei was also a buddha, just as Nansen is. Obviously Mayoku was confused. He said, "SHOKEI SAID, 'GOOD'; WHY DO YOU SAY, 'WRONG'?"

What does Nansen mean? For the same act another master, Shokei, has said "Good." Nansen, to the same act, says "Wrong."

Repetition is wrong. Whatever he had done to Shokei was fresh, spontaneous; now repeating it is stale and stinking of death. It is no more the fresh breeze of the morning, no more the fresh opening of a rose.

You will find dry roses in strange places like the Bible. But a dry rose is only a memory, a remembrance, a faraway echo of the real rose who was dancing in the wind, in the rain, in the sun.

Whenever anything becomes stale, repetitive, a man of understanding is going to call it wrong. Not only that, if you continue like this you are moving towards destruction, not towards enlightenment, awakening, a rebirth.

Hence, both are right. Shokei is right - Nansen said, "Shokei is 'good,' but you are wrong. You have become wrong just because you are repeating the same act, which has become non-spontaneous."

Anything that is non-spontaneous is destructive to the soul. It is not a creative act that enhances your being, that enhances your awareness, that makes your love pure gold. It simply leads you towards the graveyard.

Basho wrote:

Even in the fall when the forests become full of dry leaves and trees are standing naked against the sky, everything seems to be just like a graveyard, but still there is something alive. When the wind comes even the dead leaves make such music... even the dead leaves start dancing. Those who can understand, those who can feel, will be utterly astonished at the beauty of the dead leaves.

They will also be able to see the beauty of the naked trees without any foliage against the sky. Those naked trees also have a beauty, you just need to have eyes to see. Then everywhere you will find life, love, laughter.

Question 1:

Maneesha has asked the question:

Maneesha, everybody grows old; very few people grow up. Growing old is a horizontal process - just moving in a line. You may reach from the cradle to the grave but you have moved horizontally.

You have become old, aged, but your inner being is as deep in darkness as it has always been.

Unless you start growing vertically, upwards to the heights of consciousness, you are not growing up.

Our whole education is absolutely unaware of the fact that growing up is a different process than growing old. Even idiots grow old; only buddhas grow up.

The process of growing up is going deeper into your roots. Have you ever considered the fact: the higher the tree the deeper are the roots. A high tree, perhaps two hundred feet, three hundred feet, cannot be supported by small roots; it will fall down. A three-hundred-foot-high tree needs exactly the same balance: three-hundred-foot-deep roots. As is the height, so should be the depth.

If you want to grow up you should think of going deeper into your roots, and growing up will be a by-product of your growing more alert, more silent, more peaceful. The deeper you are at the center of your being, a tremendous transformation takes place. You start growing up to the ultimate heights of consciousness. In those heights you are the buddhas. No initiation is needed - you know it.

When you have a migraine, do you need a confirmation from others? Nobody says, "This person is having a self-styled migraine," although the poor person who is suffering from migraine cannot prove it by any argument, cannot prove it with any evidence. But that does not matter. One who is suffering from migraine... even if the whole world says, "Without evidence you cannot suffer from migraine," that is not going to change the situation. The whole world may deny it, but the migraine is there. Only you know it.

There are a few things which only you know. When one becomes enlightened, there is no need of any witnesses; it is not a question of anybody else confirming it. Your enlightenment is absolutely your experience, you don't need any argument.

Once Ramakrishna was asked, "What is the logical, rational support for your illumination?"

He used the word 'illumination' instead of enlightenment. It is an absolute freedom, one can choose what word he wants to choose.

Ramakrishna said, "I am the argument. If you can understand me, if you can feel me you will know my illumination. It is radiating but your eyes are closed. Now I am not responsible for your eyes. If you want to know me, open your eyes - and not only the outward eyes but the inward too, because my illumination is of the inner."

Maneesha, you are all growing up. And you will know, you will feel every day how you are growing up in your sensitivity, in your awareness, in your love, in your silences of the heart. All these flowers are inner. Even if nobody confirms it, it does not matter. It is nobody's copyright!

Once and for all I want the idiots of this earth to know that I don't need anybody's confirmation. I am a man in my own right, and whatever I know of my inner, except me, nobody has any right even to raise a finger about it! If I say I am Zorba The Buddha, you may accept it or you may not accept it, but you cannot question it.

It is time for Sardar Gurudayal Singh.

The TV announcer appears on the screen.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We interrupt this program to bring you a news flash from the White House. Nancy Reagan's battle with a stubborn cockroach has landed her husband Ronald in the hospital with severe burns and multiple fractures.

"The details are as follows: Mrs. Reagan stamped on the cockroach, threw it in the toilet and sprayed an entire can of insecticide on it when it refused to die.

"Later, Mr. Reagan, while using the toilet, threw in a lit cigarette, which set fire to the insecticide fumes. The explosion caused serious burns to the sensitive parts of his body. Shortly after that, two staff members who were carrying Mr. Reagan to the ambulance were told how he had been injured.

They began laughing hysterically and dropped him down a flight of stairs, which resulted in a broken pelvis and fractured ribs.

"The good news for the evening is that the cockroach walked away unharmed."

Izzy Iceberg, the salesman from "Titanic Insurance," pays a visit to the Kowalski's home. Kowalski is out at the pub, so Izzy is forced to talk to Olga.

"Do you know how much your husband's life insurance policy is worth?" asks Izzy.

But Olga does not understand what he is talking about and just looks at him, blankly.

"Let me put it to you another way," says Izzy, patiently. "Do you know what you would get after your husband dies?"

"Ah! I have often thought about that," says Olga. "Probably I will get a parrot!"

Jesus Christ is walking on his way to Jerusalem one day. Suddenly he sees a man sitting at the side of the road crying.

"What is the problem, my son?" asks Jesus.

"I am blind and I cannot see the beauty of the flowers and the birds in the sky," replies the man.

"No problem," says Jesus, just waving his hand in front of the man's eyes. Suddenly, the man jumps up.

"I can see!" he cries, dancing off down the road.

Two hours later, Jesus comes upon another man sitting beside the road, crying.

"What is the problem, my son?" asks Jesus.

"I am crippled and I cannot walk," replies the man.

"No problem," says Jesus, just waving his hands over the man's legs. Immediately, the man jumps up and runs off into the hills singing.

An hour later, Jesus comes upon another man sitting beside the road, crying and weeping. The man looks perfectly healthy and robust.

"What is the problem, my son?" asks Jesus.

"Ah! Jesus!" says the man, "I am German!"

Jesus sits down and cries too.

Nivedano...

(Drumbeat)

(Gibberish)

Nivedano...

(Drumbeat)

Be silent. Close your eyes, and feel your body to be completely frozen.

This is the right moment to look inwards with your total energy, your total consciousness, and with an urgency as if this is going to be your last moment.

Deeper and deeper.

Go on piercing till you reach to the center of your being. There, you are the buddha.

The only quality that the buddha has is witnessing.

Witness that your body is not you.

Witness that your mind is not you.

Witness that only witnessing is your self nature. This is your buddha. It needs no initiation, it needs only a self-exploration into your own kingdom, the kingdom of your inner being.

Thousands of flowers will start showering on you, and a peace will descend that passeth understanding. A silence will surround you which is almost like a subtle music. A joy will start arising at the very center of your being, like a spring of pure water.

Just witness everything, and remain aloof; don't get identified with anything. You are the unidentified observer of existence.

To make it clear, Nivedano...

(Drumbeat)

Relax, but go on continuing to be a witness.

That is the secret word I pass on to you.

The evening was beautiful on its own, but ten thousand buddhas have made it a miracle.

As you relax and just witness, all separation from existence disappears. The Buddha Auditorium becomes a lake of consciousness, awareness, witnessing.

These are the greatest and the highest peaks of human potential. This is what I mean by growing up. Be a buddha, and you are grown up.

Collect as many flowers as you can before Nivedano calls you back. Persuade the buddha, inch by inch. He has been hiding for millions of years at the center of your being. He has to be brought to the circumference also, so that he can become part of your daily, day-to-day activities and affairs.

Nivedano...

(Drumbeat)

Come back. But come back as a new man, a buddha, with the same grace... the beauty, the splendor, the awareness.

Sitting for a few minutes just to recollect, to remember the golden path that you have traveled towards your roots. Remember the joy and the beauty that you have encountered, and remember your original face - I call it the buddha.

Okay, Maneesha?

Yes, Buddha.