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

152 THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12
unique phenomenon. You can be accepted as an offering but only as a unique phenomenon. An imitation Jesus,
Krishna, Christ, Buddha, Mohammed these won’t do. Imitators are bound to be rejected.
Be yourself, authentically yourself. Respect yourself. If God has given you life he respects you. And do you
have higher standards than God himself? Love yourself. God loves you. And then start watching all kinds of
energies in you you are a vast universe!
And slowly, slowly as you become more conscious, you will be able to put things right, into right places. You
are topsy-turvy, that is true, but nothing is wrong with you. You are not a sinner just a little rearrangement and
you will become a beautiful phenomenon.
The third question:
Question 3
BELOVED MASTER, AM I WASTING ENERGY BY LOOKING TO OCCULTISM AS A WAY TO EX-
PLORE INNER SPACE?
Mark, occultism is for stupid people. God is not hidden; God is very much manifested. He is all over the place:
singing in the birds, flowering in the flowers. He is green in the trees, red in the roses. He is breathing in you. He
is talking through me and listening through you right this very moment. But you don’t want to see the obvious.
Man has a very pathological interest in the occult. Occult means that which is hidden. Man wants to be
interested in the hidden and there is nothing hidden! As far as God is concerned nothing is hidden. Just open
your eyes and he is standing before you. Be silent and you will hear the still, small voice within yourself. Why go
into occultism to explore inner space? Why not go directly into inner space? Occultism is so much nonsense, and
there is no end to it because it is all invention. It is religious fiction. Just as there is science fiction, occultism is
religious fiction. If you love fictions, it is perfectly okay. But then don’t think that by reading science fiction you
are studying science. And don’t believe in science fiction, and don’t act out of that belief; otherwise you will end
up in a madhouse.
Occultism is exactly like science fiction. People love fiction; there is nothing wrong in it, but you should know
that it is fiction. Enjoy, but don’t take it seriously.
In Buddha’s time there were eight great masters. Mahavira is well-known he was the last enlightened master
of the tradition of the Jainas. He used to say there are three hells. One of his disciples became a renegade,
betrayed him, declared himself to be a master, and he started talking about seven hells. He used to say to people,
”Mahavira does not know much; he knows only about three hells and I know about seven.” And naturally people
were impressed. Mahavira talks only of three hells and he talks about seven!
One great master was Sanjay Belattiputta, another contemporary of Buddha. He must have been a man
something like me nonserious. He started talking about seven hundred hells. He said, ”What is this Gosalak
talking about? only seven? There are seven hundred, and there are seven hundred heavens too.”
He was joking, but people were very interested. This seems to be the right man, who has gone so deep into
occultism.
Once a follower of Radhaswami, a small sect which is confined to an area near Agra, came to see me. I was in
Agra. He was some kind of a priest, and he said, ”Do you know? our master has said there are fourteen planes
of existence.”
I said, ”Just fourteen?”
He said, ”What do you mean, ’Just fourteen’? Are there more?”
I said, ”Certainly.”
He said, ”But our master has said there are only fourteen. Mohammed has reached only up to the third,” he
said he had brought a map ”Kabir and Nanak have reached up to the fifth. And Mahavira and Buddha up to
the seventh,” and so on, so forth. But there has never been another who has reached up to the fourteenth except
his so-called master.
I said, ”I know your master. I have seen him struggling in the fourteenth. He is trying hard, but he cannot get
out of it. I know it because I exist at the fifteenth. There are fifteen planes of existence.”
He said, ”But you are the first man....” And he was much impressed. When he was leaving he touched my feet
and he said, ”You have revealed a new secret.”
I said, ”Don’t be foolish. I was just joking! There are only two categories of people: the people who are not
aware and the people who are aware. The people who are aware have no hierarchy that one is more aware than
the other, that somebody is at the fifth, somebody at the seventh, somebody at the ninth, somebody at the
fourteenth. There is no higher and lower in awareness. Awareness is simply awareness.”
But he was not much interested in that. He was more interested in my being on the fifteenth plane.
People are interested in religious fictions.