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

THE DHAMMAPADA: THE WAY OF THE BUDDHA, VOL. 9-12 369
Wherever they are it is not going to make much difference because if you desire one, the other follows it like a
shadow.
I have heard about a man.... In Hindu mythology it is said that in heaven there are kalpavrikshas. A kalpavriksha
means a wish-fulfilling tree. You sit underneath the tree and whatsoever your wishes are they are fulfilled
immediately. You wish and they are fulfilled instantly. Even instant coffee takes a little time, it is not so instant,
but under a kalpavriksha there is no time gap between the desire and its fulfillment; you have not even desired
and it is fulfilled.
One man, a very religious man, reached heaven. He was tired the long journey from earth to heaven. The first
tree that he came across he sat underneath. Tired he was, weary from the journey, and the tree was cool, shady.
He rested underneath the tree.
Suddenly he felt hungry. Immediately beautiful food appeared. He was so hungry he did not even bother from
where this food had appeared. He ate to his heart’s content.
Then he thought, ”If there was something to drink....” Immediately a cold drink maybe Coca-Cola! appeared.
He was very happy and he thought, ”Now I would like to rest a little bit, but the ground is so uneven. If there
was some bed available somewhere....” Suddenly out of nowhere a beautiful bed he had never seen one like it in
his life. He fell asleep; he was so tired that there was no question of becoming curious. But when he woke up the
sun was just coming down, was going to set. Now he was refreshed, well, nourished. He became a little suspicious:
”What is the matter? I desired food, food appeared. I desired drinks and drinks appeared. I desired the bed and
the bed appeared. It seems this tree is haunted by ghosts! My God! Are there ghosts?” he thought.
And suddenly ghosts appeared, so terrible, big monsters, just ready to jump upon him. He said, ”I am finished!
These people are not going to leave me!” And, of course, he was finished; they did not leave him, because
whatsoever you wish.... They jumped upon him, tore him to pieces and ate him up then and there, raw!
The religious person, the so-called religious person, is not going to find peace even in heaven because his whole
desire for heaven is basically wrong. The desire for pleasure is wrong because it contains the other side, pain. You
cannot divide them, they are indivisibly one.
This is one of the greatest contributions of Buddha: that he helped religious consciousness to go beyond heaven
and hell. Otherwise Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism, Hinduism, they are all confined to the world of
heaven and hell. Their ultimate desire is how to attain to heavenly joys. Buddha says the ultimate is how to drop
all desire, even that of heaven, because only when all desire disappears are you in a state of absolute freedom.
He calls it nirvana. When the mind ceases then you yourself are bliss. But it happens not because of desiring, it
happens only when the state of desirelessness has been achieved. When desires have left you, in that space, bliss
starts growing in you.
HE HAS COME TO THE END OF THE WAY.
Of course there is no longer anywhere to go he has come home.
ALL THAT HE HAD TO DO, HE HAS DONE.
AND NOW HE IS ONE.
... One with himself and one with the whole. You are many, you are a crowd. The master is one, he is not a
crowd. You are not one, you are many selves. So one moment you are one thing, another moment you are another
thing. You go on changing. Just watch your mind every moment you go on changing, because one self says do
this, then another self comes and says don’t do this, then another self comes and says do something else. And
you have many selves you are multipsychic. You don’t have one mind, you have many minds. And you are being
tortured by all these minds, pulled into different directions.
The master has no mind, hence he becomes one. With no desire, with no possessions, with no desire even for
heaven, he is bound to become one. He becomes integrated. He is really individual, literally individual. The word
’individual’ means one who is indivisible. You are not individuals, you are only persons, personalities and that
too not one. You have many personalities, many faces, you wear many masks. The master has no masks, no faces;
he has only one face his original face. He is simply natural. He has no mind; hence he is one.
And the miracle happens: when you are one with yourself, when you are one within yourself, you become one
with the whole. And that is the ultimate state. Call it nirvana, call it kingdom of God, call it God-realization, or
whatsoever name you want to give it it is nameless. But this has been the real goal of all the seekers of truth.
Let this be your only goal. Prepare for it. I hope these beautiful sutras of Buddha will help you tremendously.
Meditate over them. They are not philosophy; they are just statements of inner truths, statements of his
experience. And they are also statements of my experience.
Whatsoever I am saying here is not just a commentary on Buddha’s sutras; Buddha’s sutras are just an excuse.
I am saying something which is my own experience. I would like you to be able to say one day this is your