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

THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12 143
If you are unconscious you may go to get forgiven, you may go to confession, but it is not going to help you will
remain the same. Foolishness tends to persist. Beware of these characteristics of foolishness. Foolishness is very
egoistic. In fact, the more intelligent you are, the less egoistic you are. When intelligence blooms in perfection,
ego disappears. Hence, foolishness is very argumentative; it always tries to defend itself. In a thousand and one
ways it will convince you that this is the right course, this is what is to be done.
One has to be very aware of all these deep tendencies; they go on forcing you to go astray, they go on forcing
you to go off center. They make you eccentric. Consciousness centers you; unconsciousness takes you off your
center.
A man walked into a cafeteria and ordered coffee and a cream bun. ”Sorry,” said the attendant, ”but we’re out
of buns. Why not have a doughnut instead?”
”In that case,” said the man, ”I’ll have a cup of tea and a cream bun.”
”I just told you, sir, we’re out of buns. Why don’t you have a doughnut?”
”Hmm... so in that case, I’ll have a toasted bun with butter and a cup of tea.”
”Look! How many times do I have to tell you? We don’t have any buns cream buns or toasted buns, or any
other kind of buns!”
”Okay then,” said the man. ”Then give me a currant bun and a hot chocolate.”
”Look here, you!” said the attendant, seizing the man by the collar and shaking him violently, ”We don’t have
no buns! We don’t have no cream buns, we don’t have no currant buns, nor hot cross buns, or toasted buns with
butter or any other kind of buns. Get it?”
”Okay, okay!” said the man. ”No need to shout I’ll just have a bun!”
Buddha says:
THE FOOL IS HIS OWN ENEMY. SEEKING WEALTH, HE DESTROYS HIMSELF.
THE FOOL IS HIS OWN ENEMY... for many reasons. First: he will die without being born. He will die as
a seed. He will never bloom, he will never come to flowers and to fruits. He will never know what fulfillment is.
His life will be a sheer wastage. His life will be a desert without any oasis. He will not know any blessing, any
benediction, any ecstasy which was his birthright. He will be self-destructive. Not to grow into consciousness is
the most suicidal act one can commit; hence Buddha says: THE FOOL IS HIS OWN ENEMY. He misses a great
opportunity.
Life is such a precious opportunity to know, to be, but the fool misses. He will not even be aware what he has
missed. He will pass through life like a zombie. His whole life is mechanical. He gets up early in the morning,
takes his breakfast, goes to the office, does his work, drives back home... and he is doing everything, but still he
is a robot. He is not yet inwardly full of light; deep inside him there is only darkness. He is doing all these things
because he has practiced doing them. He has become skillful.
Scientists have been working for centuries to create robots. I don’t see why they should be so much concerned
about creating robots there are so many, millions of them! And there is no need to make robots at all; all these
millions of robots go on producing more robots! In fact, the question is how to stop them from producing more!
Each fool leaves at least a dozen fools particularly in India behind him. When he dies he makes the world
twelve times more foolish; he leaves a dozen fools as a proof that he has been here. What is the need of creating
robots?
I was reading a story that robots have been created it is a twenty-first century story and they are so exactly
like human beings that it is very difficult to distinguish. If you meet a robot on the way driving his car you will
not be able to distinguish whether he is a robot or not. He will look exactly like a man. Only one difference will
be there: he will be more efficient. Less accidents will be there on the road. He will finish his work in time. He
will not go on piling up files on his table; his table will be clean.
So a few indications so you can judge whether the man is really a robot or a man. Once in a while only
you will know who is a robot when his battery runs down. Then only... if he was talking to you and he was
giving you great argument, philosophical arguments for God’s existence, and then he suddenly says, ”Grrr, grrrr,
grrr-rr-rrr...!” and immediately runs towards the electric plug and connects himself to the electricity to recharge
himself then you will know that this is not a real man; otherwise there will not be any difference.
And that, too, is possible to overcome sooner or later: we can fix two batteries. Why one battery? I was
worried: why fix one battery in the poor man? you can fix two batteries so that while one is being used, the other
is being charged automatically. If you can create a robot, can’t you create an automatic battery? Why make him
look foolish: ”Grrr, grrr, grrr”? And this can happen any time. He is making love to his woman, and ”Grrr, grrr,
grrr!” And he has to say, ”Excuse me, I have run out of gas!” Either electricity... or he will need petrol.
THE FOOL IS HIS OWN ENEMY. His first inimical act towards himself is his mechanicalness.