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Surrendering to
The Master...
Becoming a disciple is easy but surrendering to
the Master is not because the real Zen Master
like Ekido uses what is known as 'a Zen stick'
to beat or rather, awaken the disciple.
Be alert to the
mind; the mind
will always tell
you to escape.
Wherever there
is danger the
mind will tell
you: run away
from here.
The mind has
two ways of
encouraging a
situation -- one
is fight, another
is flight
O
ne man was here and he said, "I want to
surrender."
I told him, "Think about it -- what do you
mean? It is difficult; it is not so easy that you
can come and say, 'I surrender.'" I told the man,
"Go and first shave your head."
The man said, "That's very difficult, that I cannot do; I
love long hair."
The man had completely forgotten he was going
to surrender to me, but he could not cut his
hair. And hair is dead already, hair is not
a live part of you; that is why
you can cut it and you are
not harmed. Hair is
dead, already
dead, something
which has gone
dead and been
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thrown out of the body as dead
cells. This man says he cannot cut
his hair because he loves long hair -
- and he is ready to surrender. He
doesn't know what surrender
means.
Someone comes to me and says,
"I am ready to surrender." And I say
to him, "Change to ochre." Then he
says, "That will be awkward, it will
be difficult." He cannot change his
dress to ochre yet he is ready to
surrender.
The word surrender has become
meaningless, it carries no meaning
for him. He is not aware of what he
is saying, otherwise to utter the
word surrender would make his
whole being tremble and shake,
because it means death.
My stick is there; I can hit you
but your readiness is not there. If I
hit you before you are ready, you
will simply escape from me. Many
escape, many have escaped because
I have hit them somehow or other.
And don't think that the stick is
really a visible thing; I use subtle
sticks. Just a word can hit you to
death; you are shattered. Your logic,
your religion, your concepts are hit
and you are shattered, and you
never come back again to me. I hit
your emotions, then you become
antagonistic to me. Your ripeness is
needed: you have to welcome the
hit, wait and pray for it.
In Zen it has been one of the
oldest traditions that whenever a
disciple is hit, the whole monastery
becomes happy, and the disciple is
received as something special. The
master has hit him; the disciple has
been chosen. People wait for years
to be hit by the master. They pray,
they ask the master, "When will we
be capable?" or, "When will we be
fortunate enough to be hit? When
will your stick, your staff, descend
upon us?"
A deep receptivity is needed.
There is no need to buy my staff, it
is always yours. Only have a
welcoming heart, a deep receptivity,
patience; it can descend on you at
any moment. Sometimes it comes
When you are
prepared neither
flight nor fight
exists, just a
prayerful patience
and waiting. There is
not even an
impatience about it...
because impatience
creates tension. You
are not even
impatient, just
patiently waiting,
passively waiting
with a prayerful
mood
near you and you become scared.
Sometimes, on many centres of
your body I hit but then you are
scared, then you want to escape
from it.
Be alert to the mind; the mind
will always tell you to escape.
Wherever there is danger the mind
will tell you: run away from here.
The mind has two ways of
encouraging a situation -- one is
fight, another is flight. Your mind
starts fighting with me, I can see.
When I am talking, I can see in your
eyes whether you are fighting or
fleeing.
Your very look, the way you sit,
the way you hear, shows that you
are fighting, resisting, withdrawn --
creating a space so I cannot enter in
you. Or, you are on a flight, and
then you are sleepy and you are not
listening at all. Or you are
somewhere else, thinking
something else, you are engaged
within so you can escape.
When you are prepared neither
flight nor fight exists, just a
prayerful patience and waiting.
There is not even an impatience
about it... because impatience
creates tension. You are not even
impatient, just patiently waiting,
passively waiting with a prayerful
mood.
The hit is yours; I am waiting for
it, and many more than Ekido's
disciples can become enlightened.
The possibility is there; the
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opportunity is there, the
river is flowing, but
whether you will bow
down and take a drink,
or whether you will
remain egoistic and turn
away from the river,
thinking either of flight
or of fight and creating
all your own ideas
around you -- whether
you will allow your mind
to take you away from
me, or whether you will
put it aside and allow me
to hit you -- everything depends on
you. The hit is always near but you
keep wavering.
This disciple was hit by Ekido;
he was really surrendered. And
after his death many more were
ready. From somewhere the chain is
to be broken. When one light is
kindled, many more follow. Who
will be the first to die? -- that's
the question. Once this disciple
was dead and inside, enlightened,
many followed; ten became
enlightened.
This word ten is also worth
thinking about. This ten is
symbolic... because ten is the
greatest number. It is not exactly
ten, it is not arithmetical; ten is just
the greatest number. Man started
counting on his fingers, and there
are ten fingers. Even now in the
villages people count on their
fingers. Ten is the highest number
and all other numbers are
repetitive. Eleven means one upon
one, twelve means two upon one;
there is repetition. Ten is the basic
number in all the languages of the
world, because everywhere man
has ten fingers. These are the ten
digits so ten is the highest number;
it is symbolic.
One dropped into infinity, then
many followed. Once the abyss is
open and you see someone entering
it, and you see the bliss, the
benediction, you can also enter it
very easily; you can take the jump
as well. Many are getting ready, but
even if you are ninety-nine per cent
ready, the hit cannot descend on
you. The hit can descend on you
only when you are one hundred per
cent ready, because then it is a
revolution. You can turn back even
from ninety-nine per cent, that's the
problem. It is very unfortunate but
it happens.
I have been working
with many people, and
sometimes they turn
when the right moment
was going to be; exactly
before that moment they
turn away. And the mind
is cunning enough; it can
philosophise, it can say
why you have turned
away? Exactly at the
moment when something
was going to happen,
you can turn away. There
is more possibility for you to turn
away from that moment than from
any other moment; it is unfortunate
but it happens. You wait and wait
and wait, and then the moment is
nearing where the evaporating
point can be reached, and suddenly
you turn away. To resist that
turning is very difficult. It is just
like death reaching nearer, nearer,
nearer, and seeing the abyss you
turn away and run as fast as you
can.
Remain alert. This misfortune
happens to seekers; it can happen to
you. Buddha passed through a
village several times in his forty
years of travelling. One man used
to come; he would listen for a few
minutes then get up and go away.
And this had become a habit; he
never listened to Buddha for the
whole time Buddha was speaking.
He would come, that was certain,
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and whenever Buddha came to the
town he would wait for that man.
He would come, that was certain.
He would sit and for a few minutes
he would listen, then, respectfully
bowing down to Buddha, he would
go away. Ananda once asked that
man, "Why do you do this?"
The man said, "Sometimes this is
the peak hour for my business, but I
must come just to pay my respects;
that's why I come. But my shop is
open and customers are there, and
they will not wait. Enlightenment
can wait; next time I will hear." It
happened repeatedly.
The day Buddha died he was
near the village, and before his
death he said to Ananda, "That man
has not come. This is exceptional --
he never missed. He always missed
in a sense but he never missed. He
has always come, now he has not
come."
Then Buddha asked his
disciples, "Do you have anything to
ask -- because soon I will enter into
the final samadhi, the final ecstasy,
and then I will not be able to come
back and answer you."
They started weeping and
crying but there was no question.
And Ananda said, "We have asked
everything, you have answered
everything, and there is nothing.
Our minds are blank just thinking
that you are going to disappear."
Buddha asked thrice, again and
again. There was no question so he
All hits are to
destroy the seed so
that the tree is born
went behind the tree and closed his
eyes, just to dissolve into the
infinite, to leave the body, and then
suddenly the man came. He started
fighting with the monks and said, "I
must see him.
This is the last time; I will not be
able to see him again. For forty
years I have been missing and I
have a question to ask. I have never
been able to ask it before because
sometimes there was a marriage in
my family, sometimes business
was at a peak, sometimes I was ill
or my wife was ill, and sometimes
there were relatives staying. I
always missed but now don't
prevent me."
The disciples said, "It is not
possible; now he is dissolving."
Buddha came out from his
ecstasy, from his final samadhi. He
appeared in front of the tree and he
said, "Don't prevent that man. He
may have been foolish, he may
have missed because of his
ignorance, but I cannot be hard on
him. I am still alive so let him come.
No one should say that Buddha was
alive and a man who had come
begging was sent back." Buddha
said, "What have you come to ask?"
The man had forgotten the
question. He said, "When I came, I
knew, but now I can't remember.
Next time I see you I will bring the
question." ... And there was going
to be no next time.
Buddha died that day, and that
man must be wandering
somewhere on this or some other
earth, seeking a man who can
answer his question. That man
missed Buddha continuously for
forty years.
You can miss me -- always
remember that possibility. But it
will be because of you, not because
of me; I am always prepared.
Whenever you are ready, I will hit
you, but a deep surrender is
needed; before that nothing can be
done. You have to die, die as you
are, so that which you really are can
be born out of you. You have to die
as an appearance so that the real
can be born. You have to die on the
periphery, so that the centre evolves
and comes out in its luminousness,
in its full perfection.
All hits are to destroy the seed
so that the tree is born.
-Osho
A Bird on the Wing.
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