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

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16 THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12 You will be surprised to know: enlightenment is not a success. Enlightenment happens only when you have totally failed. Enlightenment is born out of total failure because if you succeed, the ego remains. When the failure is total, absolute, irrevocable, categorical, when there is no going back, the ego disappears. Ego lives, feeds on success; it cannot live in failure. It leaves you. That evening the ego disappeared. The full moon rose. He watched the full moon, he enjoyed the full moon. For six years he had not seen the moon at all, he was so much preoccupied with his own spiritual attainment. The night was cool and beautiful. The forest was silent, and just by the side was flowing the river Niranjana. He enjoyed the reflection of the moon in the Niranjana. He enjoyed the silence. Then he fell asleep. He slept without any dreams, because all dreams are by-products of desires. In the morning when it was dawn and the birds started singing he was awakened by their songs. Lying under the tree, nowhere to go, nothing to do, he watched the sun rise above the horizon; the east becoming red and a beautiful morning and the cool breeze.... And something happened, something clicked. He became enlightened not out of six years’ effort but only one night’s effortlessness. Not out of six years’ constant striving of the ego, but only one night’s state of no ego, no desire. And in the morning he was enlightened. Then again he laughed. He laughed because he saw that he was always enlightened but could not see the fact, the truth of it, because he was so much concerned with attaining it. If you are so much concerned with attaining it you will not be able to see that it is already the case. You are all buddhas. Nobody is born otherwise, everybody is born a buddha. It is not a question of achieving, Jyotirmaya, remember it: buddhahood, enlightenment, is not a question of attainment. It is a question of becoming silent, still, egoless, desireless, so that you can see with unclouded eyes who you are. You are a buddha already, you are enlightened. He laughed in the night because his whole life had failed; it was ridiculous. In the morning he laughed because he was searching for something that was already inside his soul; there was no need to seek and search for it. In fact, seeking and searching was keeping him away from it. Seek, and ye will not find; seek not and it is yours. The sixth question: Question 6 BELOVED MASTER, IS IT POSSIBLE TO LOVE AN ITALIAN MAN WITHOUT WANTING TO KILL HIM? Satya Bharti, it is impossible. But remember, the moment you stop thinking of killing him, love will also disappear. To fall in love with an Italian in the first place is very crazy, and then this desire to kill him is natural. Love is a kind of fight Italian or not Italian. Love is a kind of fight; it is a struggle. And when you stop fighting, when you stop struggling, love disappears. I am not talking about the love of the buddhas; I am talking about the love Satya is asking about. And do you know who this Italian is? Sarjano, the most Italian out of all Italians! After the Ark had pushed off, Noah assembled all the animals in the central cabin and made a short speech. He pointed out that the trip was liable to be a long one, and that quarters were somewhat limited. ”Therefore,” he said, ”I want to emphasize that we can’t have any population increases at all until the flood subsides and we can get to land. I am appointing the giraffe, as the tallest of you, to stand guard and make sure my instructions are carried out.” Finally the water subsided, the Ark landed and the doors were opened. Out came the animals, two by two, as they had come in no more of any species. Then the cats came out followed by a litter of little kittens. As they passed the giraffe, one of the cats looked up and winked. ”I will bet,” he said, ”you thought we were fighting.” The seventh question: Question 7 BELOVED MASTER, DO YOU BELIEVE IN ASTRONOMY AND ASTROLOGY? Ismail Nagdum, I don’t believe in anything and I don’t disbelieve anything. My whole effort here is to help you to destroy all beliefs and all disbeliefs, because only then will you be able to know. Knowing happens only when the inner being is utterly empty of beliefs and disbeliefs, when you are neither a Catholic nor a communist, neither an atheist nor a theist. And that was Buddha’s attitude too: he was an agnostic. A real seeker of truth does not believe in anything, positively or negatively. He does not believe in God, he does not believe in no-God. So what to say about astronomy and astrology? Belief is not his concern; knowing, experiencing, seeing, is his concern, because it is only through seeing that transformation happens. But people go on believing all kinds of things because belief gives you a false idea of knowledge. It makes you feel good it hides your ignorance. Otherwise belief is the most stupid thing that one can do. Belief means you
THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12 17 don’t know and yet you believe. Remember, belief is irrelevant when you don’t know and belief is irrelevant when you do know. When you don’t know, your belief is false, rooted in ignorance. When you know, there is no need to believe you know already. Do you believe in the sun, in the moon? Does anybody ask you, ”Do you believe in the earth?” Nobody asks such questions. People ask, ”Do you believe in God? Do you believe in astrology? Do you believe in life after death?” These questions seem to be relevant because nobody seems to know. I don’t believe in anything. And remember, if you start believing, then there is no end to it; you can believe in any nonsense. Once you believe, there is no problem. Harry came home from work earlier than usual one afternoon. ”Darling, I’m home,” he cried and rushed upstairs to the bedroom, where he found his wife lying on the bed, a surprised look on her face. The curtains were drawn, the sheets and blankets were in disorder. ”Is everything all right?” he asked. ”Why, yes... yes, of course, dear,” she replied uncertainly. Taking off his jacket he went to the wardrobe and to his surprise found a man crouching inside. ”Hello, what are you doing here?” said Harry in astonishment. ”Oh... I... I’m the gas man.... I’ve, er... come to check the gas meter.” ”Hmm, I see,” said Harry and hung up his jacket. Then reaching under the bed for his slippers, he found another man lying there. ”Well... and who are you?” he asked. ”Ah, yes... well.... I’m the, er... the electrician... I’ve come to fix the wiring.” ”I see,” said Harry. ”All right then.” Then, taking off his tie and shirt, he remarked, ”I say, dear, it is a bit dark and stuffy in here, don’t you think?” and drawing back the curtain he saw a man perched outside on the window ledge. ”Hello,” said Harry, ”and what are you doing here?” ”Well,” said the man, ”if you believed those other guys actually, I’m waiting for a bus.” The eighth question: Question 8 BELOVED MASTER, IS IT REALLY BAD LUCK TO HAVE A BLACK CAT CROSS YOUR PATH? Narendra, it depends on whether you are a man or a mouse! The last question: Question 9 BELOVED MASTER, WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS LAUGHING AT THE KNOWLEDGEABLE PEOPLE? Govindo, what should I do? Should I cry and weep over spilt milk? If you cannot laugh at knowledgeable people, at whom are you going to laugh? They are the most stupid people in the world, the most ridiculous. A British couple after a few years of marriage finally had a child. As the child’s hair was completely red and both parents’ hair was brown, things looked a little suspicious. The bewildered wife, upset at the obvious insinuations, suggested that they both go to see a doctor. The doctor, after taking note of the unusual phenomenon, looked even more puzzled than the couple. ”According to the laws of genetics,” he explained, ”it is impossible that a man and a woman with brown hair can give birth to a child with red hair.” The doctor decided to make inquiries in another direction. ”How frequently do you have sexual intercourse?” he asked. The answer was a British embarrassed silence. ”Once a day?” encouraged the doctor. ”Well, not really,” was the embarrassed answer of the couple. ”Well, once a week then?” asked the doctor. ”Ahem, I wouldn’t say that,” answered the man. ”Once a month?” probed the doctor. ”Well, ahem, we don’t not that often,” was the reply. ”Aha!” cried the doctor. ”Now I get it! Nothing to be worried about it’s only rust!” Enough for today. The Dhammapada: The Way of the Buddha, Vol. 9 Chapter 3 Buddhas only point the way Audio:Yes Video:No Length:0 mins I SHALL ENDURE HARD WORDS AS THE ELEPHANT ENDURES THE SHAFTS OF BATTLE. FOR MANY PEOPLE SPEAK WILDLY.
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