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

350 THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12
The master has woken from his sleep. He has come to see that which is eternal in him. He has come to see
his own consciousness, he has become aware of his own awareness. And that is the ultimate truth, the ultimate
awakening.
AND THE WAY HE HAS TAKEN IS HIDDEN FROM MEN, EVEN FROM SPIRITS AND GODS, BY
VIRTUE OF HIS PURITY.
And the way he has taken is invisible. It is not that of fasting; people can see that you are fasting, starving,
killing your body. It is not that of torturing your body, it is not that of distorting your body through so-called
yoga postures. The way of the buddha is so subtle; nobody can see it except you yourself unless you come across
another buddha. Only another buddha can see it because it is simply the way of being watchful. How can anybody
else see it? It has no ritual.
Buddha’s religion is tremendously beautiful no ritual, no so-called ordinary religious performances simply, you
remain watchful. But that is something inside you, nobody else can even detect what you are doing. You can be
driving your car, you can be sitting in your office and you can be doing it. It is not even deep breathing that
others can feel, that you are doing some deep breathing. It is simply Vipassana, it is simply watching, watching
everything outside, inside.
Buddha has given the purest way and the simplest and the subtlest but the most fundamental. He has given
the golden key, the master key which can unlock all the mysteries of life and existence.
IN HIM THERE IS NO YESTERDAY, NO TOMORROW, NO TODAY.
Time has disappeared, because when you become absolute awareness there is no time left. Not only yesterdays
disappear... they disappear first. In that order they disappear.
IN HIM THERE IS NO YESTERDAY.... First yesterdays disappear; you become more and more unconcerned
about the past. What is gone is gone, only fools care for it. And there are fools who are so worried about their
past they even write letters to me....
One man from Switzerland has written a letter just the other day, saying, ”Seeing your picture and reading a
few of your books I have recognized you, that we have met in our past lives. I recognize you absolutely. I am
sending my picture do you recognize me? If you recognize me, then I will come.”
I have told Laxmi, ”Inform that fellow that I don’t recognize anybody from the past. The past is finished! You
have not read my books and you have not seen me yet. And why should you be concerned about being recognized
that I had seen you in the past? What purpose is it going to fulfill?” Some ego-fulfillment is involved: ”Then I
will come” if I recognize him, that I have seen him in the past.
Now, this type of foolish person is caught by people like Muktananda. They will immediately say, ”Yes, we have
been together in the past. You have been a disciple to me in the past too and you were working so beautifully
and you were growing so high. Just a little bit is left that can be done now, so get initiated into siddha yoga.”
The past exists nowhere. Many people write to me, ”Give us methods so that we can remember our past lives.”
What are you going to do? Even if you remember that you were Alexander the Great or Cleopatra, how is that
going to help in any way? It will create more complications. You are already in such a mess!
That’s why nature closes the door every time you die. This is great compassion, otherwise you will be born
mad. Remembering all your past lives you will be in such a state that it will be impossible for you to function
at all, because your mother may have been your wife in the past life and in another life she may have been your
daughter. Now, how to behave with her? as your mother, as your wife, as your daughter? You will get very
confused!
There is no need to bother about the past. As you become aware, the first thing to disappear from your mind is
the past, and the past is one third of the mind. It is the very base of the mind, the foundation. Once it disappears,
then the whole building starts collapsing.
The second to go is tomorrow. When there is no yesterday you cannot conceive of tomorrow. Tomorrow is
nothing but a projection of yesterday. You would like to live the joys of yesterday again tomorrow and you would
like to avoid the miseries of yesterday; that’s what your tomorrow is. If yesterday is gone, tomorrow is finished;
soon it will disappear.
And when yesterdays are gone and tomorrows are gone, where is today? It exists between the two. If both
the banks have disappeared, the river itself will disappear. If both the banks have disappeared, the bridge will
disappear. Chunk by chunk in three pieces, time dissolves: first the past, then the future, and finally the present.
Then you are left with no time, a state of timelessness. And this, Buddha says, is nirvana.
To experience timelessness is to experience deathlessness. To experience timelessness is to experience that which
really is. It is neither past nor present nor future; it simply is. It cannot be confined to any compartment, into
any category; it cannot be categorized. You simply experience each moment with tremendous peace and silence