THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12 The ...

102 THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12
”No.”
The gates of pearl and alabaster swung open upon their golden hinges, making the most ravishing music, and
the patriarch bowed low.
”Enter into thy eternal rest.”
But Mrs. Farid hesitated. ”The poisoning, the chopping, the... the....” she stammered.
”Of no consequence, I assure you. We are not going to be hard on a lady who did not belong to the Women’s
Lib. Take a harp.”
”But I applied for membership. They would not let me in.”
”Take two harps.”
Don’t be worried, Shakti. There are many women here who have belonged to the Women’s Lib movement. But
as they have come closer to me, their attitudes have changed, their approach has changed. Life’s problems can
only be solved by love, they cannot be solved by any violent approach.
Men and women are different worlds; hence it is difficult to understand each other. And the past has been full
of misunderstandings, but that is not necessarily to be so in the future. We can learn a lesson from the past, and
the only lesson is that man and woman have to become more understanding of each other and more accepting
of each other’s differences. Those differences are valuable, they need not create any conflict; in fact, they are
the causes of attraction between them. If all the differences between men and women disappear, if they have the
same kind of psychology, love will also disappear because the polarity will not be there. Man and woman are
like negative and positive poles of electricity: they are pulled towards each other magnetically; they are opposite
poles. Hence, conflict is natural. But through understanding, through compassion, through love, through looking
into the other’s world and trying to be sympathetic to it, all the problems can be solved. There is no need to
create more conflict enough is enough.
Man needs as much liberation as woman. Both need liberation liberation from the mind. They should cooperate
with each other and help each other to be liberated from the mind. That will be a true liberation movement.
That’s what sannyas is all about.
The last question:
Question 6
BELOVED MASTER, ARE YOU GOD THE CREATOR?
Sudheer, do you think I am mad?
For almost a year, Grandpa Sulzberg had been a constant embarrassment to his family. He would mount a
soap box on street corners in his neighborhood and proclaim himself the messiah. Then he would proceed to
harangue the amused crowds that gathered, hurling fierce warnings and injunctions, reminding them of the dire
consequences of their evil ways. In his long white robe which he had fashioned from a bedsheet, and his flowing,
silvery beard, he did indeed look like a biblical patriarch.
Old Sulzberg’s delusion gradually worsened, and finally his sons and daughters and grown grandchildren held
a conference and reluctantly agreed to send him to an institution. There, they hoped, with proper treatment, he
might regain his sanity and then return home.
At the Cedars of Lebanon Home for the Mentally Disturbed, the ”messiah” got along famously with his fellow
patients. Until, that is, he made the mistake of exhorting them to abandon their godless ways.
”I am Moses reincarnated,” he thundered like a prophet of old. ”I am the messiah!”
”Oh yeah?” yelled one of the patients. ”Who said so?”
”I will tell you who said so,” yelled Mr. Sulzberg-turned-messiah. ”God said so!”
And from the outer circle of patients an indignant voice rang out: ”I did not!”
Enough for today.
The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol. 10
Chapter 3 Meditation requires courage
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IT IS NOT IRON THAT IMPRISONS YOU NOR ROPE NOR WOOD, BUT THE PLEASURE YOU TAKE
IN GOLD AND JEWELS, IN SONS AND WIVES.
SOFT FETTERS, YET THEY HOLD YOU DOWN. CAN YOU SNAP THEM?
THERE ARE THOSE WHO CAN, WHO SURRENDER THE WORLD, FORSAKE DESIRE, AND FOLLOW
THE WAY.
O SLAVE OF DESIRE, FLOAT UPON THE STREAM. LITTLE SPIDER, STICK TO YOUR WEB. OR
ELSE ABANDON YOUR SORROWS FOR THE WAY.