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

THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12 25
Buddha is different again. He says, ”I am an ordinary human being.” He says, MY OWN MIND USED TO
WANDER.
Gospels never say anything like that, no Hindu scriptures will ever say anything like that about Krishna or
Rama because that will make them ordinary like you. They are born gods.
Buddha simply says, ”I was a human being just like you. I was groping in darkness just like you. I was doing
all kinds of things as you are doing; I am in no way special. All that happened to me is happening to you and
something more has happened to me which can happen to you if you allow it to happen. I was as ordinary as you
are; just only one thing has happened to me which has made all the difference. I have become aware and you are
unaware. You are carrying the truth in you as much as I am. I am aware of it; you are not aware of it.
”But remember, whether you know the truth or you don’t know, it makes no difference to the truth. The truth
remains true. Knowing or not knowing does not make any difference. Truth is truth. It is behind you,” Buddha
says, ”it is in front of me. I have turned in; I have taken the hundred-eighty-degree turn, that’s all. It is not much
to brag about. You can do it.”
This is again very special about Buddha. He never claims that he is unique; hence he is of more help to humanity
than anybody else. Because he says: I was just like you.... MY MIND USED TO WANDER WHEREVER
PLEASURE OR DESIRE OR LUST LED IT.
He does not deny that there was lust in him from the very beginning. He does not deny that there was desire,
he does not say that he was born pure. He simply says, ”I was as much after pleasure I was as much full of desire
as you are, and I was as much full of lust as you are. So nothing is wrong in lust, in desire, in pleasure; if anything
is wrong it is in your unawareness. Be aware; and lust disappears, and desire disappears and the constant greed
for pleasure disappears.”
When you become aware, you are so at ease, so full of bliss, who bothers about pleasure? When you have
diamonds who cares about pebbles? When you have inexhaustible sources of inner bliss who goes on begging for
small pleasures, ugly pleasures? they simply disappear.
Buddha says: BUT NOW I HAVE IT TAMED, I have disciplined my mind, I have meditated, I have gone into
the functioning of the mind, I have seen it through and through. Now I have become the master. Seeing it I have
become the master. Knowing it I have become the master. Understanding makes you the master. Now I GUIDE
IT, AS THE KEEPER GUIDES THE WILD ELEPHANT.
So don’t feel guilty that is Buddha’s message don’t feel guilty for your greed, don’t feel guilty for your anger,
don’t feel guilty for your lust. All that you need to do is become aware of your greed, become aware of your
lust, become aware of your desire, and see the miracle happen. Just as you bring light in the room and darkness
disappears, exactly like that, precisely like that, as you bring awareness in all desire, all greed, all anger, all lust
simply disappears as if it has never been there. Don’t try to escape, don’t try to renounce, because if you renounce
you are simply renouncing the opportunity.
A man escapes from his wife, goes to the Himalayas or moves to a monastery.... There are monasteries where
no woman has been ever allowed in; there are monasteries where once you go in, you are not allowed to go out
again your whole life. Now, this is not a transformation, this is simply escaping from the opportunity.
Dick brought Sally to his bed. ”What would you like to do?” he asked.
”I would like to see today’s newspaper,” she said.
”Sure,” said Dick, ”I will send my dog for it. He is so smart he will even bring back the change.” Dick gave
the dog ten dollars and sent him for the paper. In an hour when the dog didn’t return, Dick and Sally went out
looking for him. They found the dog making it with a French poodle.
”Did he ever do this before?” asked Sally.
”No,” said Dick, ”this is the first time he ever had any money.”
Opportunity.... You can escape from the opportunity, that will not change your being. Outwardly you will
become a monk; inwardly you will remain the same person. Outwardly you will become a nun; inwardly you will
remain the same person. And the real question is of your inner consciousness, not of your outer circumstances.
The mind is not bad if it is used as a mechanism and you are the master. The mind is beautiful as a servant.
When it becomes the master then it is ugly. Let consciousness be the master, the guide, and let the mind be like
an elephant tamed, disciplined. How can you do it?
Buddha says:
AWAKE. BE THE WITNESS OF YOUR THOUGHTS.
In these simple words he has given to the world the greatest meditation: Vipassana. More people have become
enlightened through Vipassana than through any other method. There are thousands of methods but Vipassana
seems to be the easiest, the most perfect, and very natural. It does not demand any unnaturalness from you.