Chapter 7
Meditation means to move away from the mind.
" And that would prove to be very costly; it would have very grave consequences.
Do you know a secret? The man who learns how to live in darkness -- the moment he accepts the totality of darkness, the darkness turns into light for him.
In one respect a rocket is better than a bullock cart -- because a rocket can take us places faster -- but why so much insistence on speed? You may not have realized this, but all mans attempts at speed are attempts to escape where he is.
In a state of peace, the body remains, the atman remains, but the mind is no more.
Dont think hell and heaven are contrary, diametrically opposite to each other.
His life contains both aspects, but he brings harmony between the two opposites.
Nothing can be more erroneous than this.
Then I said, "You are such a clever fellow, you can even create mental disturbance for yourself.
One hand will feel the water is cold and the other will feel the same water is hot.
Wherever resistance occurs a strength is created.
Should scientists someday discover how man can live infinitely -- and such a discovery is possible; it is not difficult -- remember, people will start looking for a guru to teach them how to die quickly.
In the absence of anger, the forgiveness will appear totally lackluster, absolutely lifeless, dead.
The strength of forgiveness lies in anger; only one who can be angry has the power to be forgiving.
One of the most profound truths of life is that the man who accepts poison lovingly, the poison no longer remains poison for him -- it turns into nectar.
And life is so vast that very few people evolve enough to see that the whole doorway is made of opposing bricks.
What is the truth? Why did you give three different answers?"
He said, "You are both crazy.
But he is bound to feel hot.
"
One of us believes we crossed the river because we had money on us, while the other says we were able to cross because we let money go.
I am an absolute believer in God.
Rather, the very state of confusion itself is mind.
Many criminals in Europe and America have given statements in court, saying they had nothing against the person they killed -- they just wanted to see their names in print, and that was the only way.
The motivation for rushing off so fast is because others are running off, are in a hurry too -- they might reach first.
We live on a mental plane; we are present right where the disorder, where the trouble is going on.
Brahmacharya is nothing but sex reduced to its lowest degree.
You can see the lower steps and you can see the steps on the top as well, but you may not be able to see the steps in the middle section.
One believed it is good to have some money on you, that it can be useful in emergencies.
White manifests because of the black background; black is in fact causing the white to stand out.
He is right, I am indeed teaching people how to die.
To swim is an effort for him.
Rejuvenation can only push death a little further away; death can be avoided a little longer.
Remember, in this world there is nothing at all like contradiction.
There are very few courageous people like him.
How is your thought supposed to know you are meditating? Now you say to your thought, "Get out! Scram!" The thought is not going to go away like this.
The bricks are all alike, but they are placed in opposite order.
Keep this in mind: a truly religious person is both -- an atheist on one hand, and a believer in God on the other hand.
On the surface this dependence appears as a contradiction, but deep down it is not.
The man said, "Please show me the way to find peace.
The energy is the same, but transformed.
They say, "You are right, the universe is a creation of sannyas.
In Pondicherry someone mentioned your name.
The first monk also joined in the laughter.
" Both used to put forward arguments in support of their respective views, and it seemed like their arguments were correct.
A little experiment will make this clear.
You will have to stop feeding them; you will have to stop rearing them.
Just be kind enough to step aside, thats all.
And one who is only a believer in God lacks religious maturity.
There are two types of people -- one whom death seeks and the other who seeks death.
But this makes no difference.
When I say this, what I am actually saying is that if man is to be saved from going insane in the near future, we will have to accept life in its totality.
The day one welcomes death, gives it a hug, embraces it, the matter is over! That day the sting of death departs.
If God is, then there is no samsara; then we can never accept the mundane life.
Today, with one voice, all Western philosophers are saying that life is meaningless.
One who learns how to float reaches the divine.
He is not swimming at all, he is just floating.
" Thats fine.
What I am saying is that what we call opposites are not opposites -- life consists of a very mysterious order.
Let the dead remain dead; dont try to keep it alive.
There is no such thing as a peaceful mind.
But all the age-old precepts of mankind teach us, "Get rid of anger and adopt forgiveness" -- as if anger and forgiveness are such opposite things that you can drop anger and retain forgiveness.
As soon as you step aside, the turmoil will come to an end.
"I went nowhere," the man replied.
Make sure you understand.
We could give it up; thats why we could cross the river.
One who accepts even the restlessness itself, his mind quiets down.
He is filled with the desire to crash into something.
And to be in meditation means not making any effort to change the mind but instead moving within without a sound.
There is an unhealthy body, of course, and there is a healthy body as well.
If you wish to die, then let me teach you how to live -- because once you have learned how to live you will have learned how to die as well.
Man is restless as he is, and yet there are some who create a new restlessness by saying, "We want to be peaceful.
They would never be able to walk.
The river is flowing and, along with the river, so is he.
There is nothing like a confused mind.
We dont allow them to die.
He thinks hell get some thrill out of it, will feel good about it.
How will they depart unless you stop taking interest in them? Otherwise, how will they know you have changed, that you are no longer interested in them?
Be my guest in this very home," suddenly finds the restlessness has left him.
"
" This is okay.
You are right, the universe is made of atman.
The owner said, "Have you gone crazy? Youll have seven bananas altogether anyway.
His teeth are clenched in anger and he is pressing the accelerator harder, and somehow or other he is wishing to have an accident.
There are ways to do away with sex, but a man cannot become a brahmacharya by doing away with sex, he can only become impotent.
Now take both hands out and place them in the water at room temperature.
Yet another friend has asked a question which is related to the previous one.
So dont ask how you can save the mind from becoming confused, ask how you can get rid of this mind.
There is God, and nothing but God.
The monkeys went on strike.
He comes to the surface right away.
Our experience of cold and hot is not absolute, it is very relative.
The sting lay in our running away from death, in our being afraid of it.
He feels something new is happening, that maybe the master is in a good mood, so he takes more and more interest in the game.
"
Well stay together.
He is under the illusion that he is living on his own, but the fact is, all his nourishment comes from the mundane world.
Ill take you across in the morning.
A FRIEND HAS ASKED: ARE YOU TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO DIE? ARE YOU TEACHING DEATH? YOU SHOULD TEACH LIFE INSTEAD.
All strength comes with opposition; all energy is produced from friction.
When the blood gushed out of the victim I felt satisfied that finally I had done something people would talk about, that my life had not passed in vain.
But what about the one who is floating? No shore can prevent a floater, because he has let himself go in the stream.
He wouldnt be able to make the arch if he placed them in the same order -- the doorway would fall immediately.
One can take the step of brahmacharya only when sex has ceased to move.
His conviction needed to be shaken up, because one who becomes certain, dies.
So a stream of life, a stream of divine consciousness is flowing within us, but we are grabbing on to the shore, on to the shore of the body.
Attempting to do that, he gets tired -- and as he gets tired he drowns.
You are committing the same kind of foolishness mankind has done for ages.
I gave my answers to the people concerned.
What we see around us in life is nothing but the movement of the left and the right step, of the left and the right foot.
Therefore, I am compelled to talk to you about death.
Another man came at noon and said, "I am a theist.
"Remove the polarity," he says.
He is still dreaming of the female movie stars of his youth, although none of them are the same now.
The body comes to the surface and floats.
The current of the river is swift, and he flaps his arms and legs trying to swim across.
For example, there is a storm at sea, the sea is restless.
Keep the arithmetic of seven bananas in mind.
But we have created such dichotomies in all levels of our lives.
So he floats in the river.
Uprooting the foothold of sex, breaking it, will certainly result in cutting off sex, but that wont help in achieving brahmacharya.
By moving away from the confusion, the confusion stills -- because it is our very presence that creates it.
"
A man is swimming in the river.
You crossed because you let go of money.
But this is not true in the case of the mind.
So both things are right.
A friend has written a letter in which he says:
But thats how our minds are.
"I am a theist.
The reason for my discussing these issues with you for three days was because I saw you came here with the desire to conquer death.
A person who, in his opposition, insists on cutting out the half of it has not yet attained enough intelligence.
Bricks laid in the same order carry no strength; there is no resistance in them.
Rejuvenation is not the key for attaining victory over death.
In this mysterious order opposites have been created so that things can exist.
So keep the floating leaf in mind.
The sea exists even when there is no storm.
Had you not had any money you wouldnt have been able to cross.
When it is sunny outside, he merely gets up, walks inside the house and relaxes.
A poor man, after a great deal of swimming, may become a rich man at most -- what more? After swimming a great deal, a man occupying a small chair may sit on a high chair in Delhi -- what more will happen?
This is also a part of the art of dying.
It seems like childhood and old age are contrary to each oth
九九藏书
er, but if they are, then no child can ever become old.Mind is not a thing, it is a state of disorder, a state of chaos.
The teacher writes on a blackboard with white chalk.
Keep it in mind finally.
He saw his serene, laughing eyes, his personality.
A desire must have occurred in his mind to at least pull out the net that was already filled, but Jesus said, "Only they can throw the new net into the new ocean who have the courage to leave the old net behind.
Come, follow me if you wish, but remember, only a man can throw a new net who has the courage to give up his old net.
Remember, however, that one who says he wants to attain peace can never become peaceful, because to say "I want to attain peace," is, in fact, looking for disturbance.
They say, "Theres no God, theres just this world and nothing else.
We sow a seed, it grows into a plant, and then it becomes a flower.
A man came to him and said, "I am an atheist, I dont believe in God.
Why did you listen to them? Do you think it is right to hear what I say to others?"
And to your great surprise you will find what you considered your enemy became your friend.
"
The shore of Dwarka is as outside the river as the shore of Delhi is -- it makes no difference.
What Shakespeare once said has become relevant all of a sudden, and Western thinkers are now reiterating it in the context of life itself: "A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
And then it becomes impossible to live under its weight.
And when the storm dies down, do you now say the storm has become peaceful? You simply say the storm no longer exists.
"
It is true, of course, that you were able to cross the river because you had money on you.
The dead body does nothing; it cannot even if it wished to.
Then they would begin cutting their right foot off and trying to walk on the left foot.
"What is that foolishness?" the monks asked.
Although you may be a good citizen, your name will not be in the papers -- but stab a person and it will create headlines.
"
If you make an effort to meditate, meditation will never happen.
Now one does not maintain any hold over the body; now one does not tether oneself to the shore of the body -- you let it go, you float.
We have taken the totality of life as if it were made up of parts, and we have pitted each part against the other.
The great mystery of this universe is that you can present an equal number of arguments in support of any of the opposing bricks used in its creation, and the dispute can never end because both bricks are used equally.
Religion is in that very harmony.
If one leaves the shore, he will go straight into the river.
He does not throw his arms and legs about; he is simply lying in the river.
You must take into account the distinction between the two.
"
Every day, the owner of the circus used to give four bananas to the monkeys in the morning and three in the evening.
You come and tell me thoughts wont leave you.
If you try to make a conscious effort, if you sit down, strain your muscles, force yourself, become determined to calm your mind no matter what, it wont work -- because, after all, who will be doing all this? Who will be showing determination? Who else but you?
If a person is doing meditation, he is trying to make a confused mind peaceful.
Meditation means to stay away from where the confusion is.
What do you think? Is there God?"
It was early morning and the sun was just about to appear on the horizon.
Only those who have known how to erase themselves also come to know how to be.
He says, "Take me where you will.
"
Remember, if you want to drop thoughts, stop saying, "My thoughts.
Everything will eventually turn into dust -- Dust unto dust.
"
We also see that something which is hot is hot, and something which is cold is cold -- we cannot believe the same thing can be hot and cold at the same time.
Buddha said, "I did not give these answers to you.
He asks, "What is a confused mind?" But here we make a mistake.
" The monk who had argued in favor of carrying money laughed and, looking at the other monk, said, "What do you think, my friend? Is carrying money worthless or meaningful?" The other monk simply kept laughing.
It was all right in the morning, but by afternoon it became a problem.
Jesus said, "You are a courageous man.
The stream within is like a river, and one who starts floating in it reaches the ocean.
The meditation I am talking about is like floating, its not like swimming.
The reason I say to you, you should learn the art of dying is because your life has become lopsided.
And when the mind is no more, then what remains is called the atman.
WHAT IS A MIND FILLED WITH ILLUSIONS? WHAT IS A VERY CONFUSED MIND? WHAT IS CLARITY OF MIND?
Then his life becomes a triumphant journey.
The second monk continued, "I always said a monk must have the courage to let go of money.
Now death cant do anything to him.
I say unto you: Die! Learn how to die.
After reaching the other shore, the monk said again, "What do you say, my friend? We would have been unable to cross the river if we hadnt had the money.
But what is the distinction between childhood and old age really? The difference is only of years, the difference is only of days; the difference is not qualitative, it is only quantitative.
One who accepts death in this way comes to a halt immediately.
But we are keeping it alive.
There is no need to count one by one that there are four in the morning and three in the evening, or vice versa.
One reaches to a point where it almost feels as if everything has become empty -- it is reaching to the ultimate end.
He has asked a very significant question.
" If we want to we can call him -- as is done in English -- "five years old," which can also mean "an old man of five.
They will try to cheat the government so they can ease themselves out of life.
Say, "Come and be my guest too.
Then there is no contradiction in life, no tension.
This man is making an effort to swim.
The man who is afraid of death will not be able to live his life; he will remain terrified of death.
Life has become solidified; the balance is gone.
He said, "What do you mean?"
The man said, "But I was told that you are an atheist.
"
" The day life agrees to live with death, it is transformed into life supreme.
By the time it was evening another person came to Buddha and said, "I dont understand whether there is God or not.
I am teaching you how to die so you may attain life.
I am teaching the art of dying, because one who learns the art of dying becomes an expert in the art of living as well.
We are firm in our beliefs, and we both seem to be right.
Now all the shores are left behind.
A swimmer can only reach the shore.
Listening to Buddhas answer, this man was confounded as well.
Only the bricks of life will be left -- and they will collapse right away.
He is thinking of using bricks that are all alike.
What I am talking about is how to live a most natural life, in all its aspects.
Perhaps nothing has caused so much harm to the human race as this contradiction.
For one who accepts his state of agitation and agrees to live with it, the doors of peace and tranquility are thrown open.
If it is sunny outside, you may see a man trying to open his umbrella -- and umbrellas can be opened outside in the sun; one may stand under its shade, or any other shade -- but such umbrellas, however, can never be opened within the mind.
Then Ill come back.
We dont let the dead be dead; instead, we amass it like a heavy load.
The river can do no harm to him.
And dont ever look back in this direction again.
"The man who came in the afternoon was a theist.
I have heard
A man who is evading death, who is scared of death, has become so frustrated, so sad and bored that he is ready to indulge in anything.
"
Maybe you have come here with the same idea too.
" He doesnt realize he is creating a situation for universal suicide this way -- a situation even he cant escape from: he will die as well.
One who accepts restlessness in its totality, one who says, "Come, stay with me.
I am ready!"
But by evening Ananda was in for yet another surprise.
They wont leave you in one day.
"
Can you imagine what the consequences would be if, by mistake, worldly people were to go crazy and become monks? From that very day things wouldnt move an inch; from that day the whole world would be in ruins.
Its a matter of living, and only a man who has no fear of death can live -- otherwise how can he live? The fear of death keeps man trembling -- he never stands still; he keeps running all the time.
ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW US HOW TO REJUVENATE OUR BODIES? ARE YOU GOING TO SHOW SOME ALCHEMICAL METHOD TO BECOME YOUNG AGAIN? IF THATS THE CASE THEN ITS WORTH SPENDING OUR MONEY TO COME THERE.
"You must have heard wrongly," said Buddha.
His life will become too onerous.
" Meditation is the means to accept death with this attitude.
You can do away with the half, of course, but as soon as that happens the remaining half will die as well -- because, unquestionably, the latter half received its life energy from the first half and from nowhere else.
Have you ever believed there was any opposition between the seed and the flower? The flower grows out of the seed itself and becomes a flower.
What will he do? He will attempt to make his mind quiet.
Follow me.
It depends on how we look at it.
In each meditation camp there used to be four discourses and four question-and-answer sessions.
For example, there are steps leading to the terrace.
Its very being is unhealthy.
When you are angry and driving a car, you press the accelerator harder.
What it means is: death is the gateway to know life, to recognize life as well.
Leave the old net behind.
An individual can live so totally in one moment -- more totally than another man could even in an infinite number of lives.
Thoughts dont come like that.
The man who came in the morning was an atheist.
You just have to float.
Just try to feel what Ananda must have gone through.
I can call it the art of living too, but I wont, because you are too attached to life.
Its a very smart idea, a very clever idea, otherwise there would be a crowd inside and it would be difficult to live -- so the temple of life has the signboard "Die" hanging outside.
There are two types of murderers: those who commit a single murder for personal reasons, and those who commit collective murder -- the politicians.
No one can experience the whole truth of life without understanding this contradiction correctly.
I am looking for peace, which I find nowhere.
The leaf is ready and willing to go wherever the river takes it.
We dont live naturally at any level, because we have learned the ways of living life unnaturally.www.99lib.net
He feels hell have the satisfaction that something happened in his life, that it was not a total waste.
They cannot.
By transforming sex, by accepting it, by moving its energy towards a higher level, one can certainly attain brahmacharya.
They too have landed in trouble.
Thats why, at the end, I have said there are seven bananas.
What I had to say, I have said it all.
His fighting drowns him, not the river.
So he said, "I dont know whether there is God or not.
Being an atheist only he was incomplete, because life is made of opposites.
We cant be in the marketplace, we cant attend to our businesses; because we believe in God well become monks and retire to the forests.
And the man who has accepted darkness itself, wholeheartedly, finds to his astonishment that darkness has become light.
One who allows himself to float in that stream reaches the ocean.
And then all of a sudden you decide to meditate and tell the dog to get lost.
"
Right there, he dropped the net filled with fish.
Hot and cold are degrees of the same thing -- they are not two different things.
Striving to cut off sex from his life, his mind will remain fixed on sex alone -- there is no way he can ever attain brahmacharya.
Keep this key in mind too: if you want to learn the art of dying then let the dead be dead.
You have tied them to yourself; you have put a collar around their necks with your name on it.
If one were to believe there is no God, that there is nothing but matter, then what meaning is there in life? Then life becomes totally useless.
One side of him had become very heavy, so I had to put some rocks on the other scale.
And it would be good if we both remained silent.
Psychologists say car accidents happen, not because of bad roads but because of the man on the accelerator -- there is something wrong with the man.
Mind is not a faculty, it is not a substance.
This shore brings you out of the river, and so does the other shore.
Its very being is confusion.
What kind of a person would you like to be -- the one who runs away from death or the one who embraces it? A person eluding death will continue to be defeated; his entire life will be a lifelong story of defeat.
Death seeks those who run away from it.
It only means your problems will be extended over a longer period -- instead of dying in seventy years, you might be able to die in seven hundred years.
Where they have arrived, suicide will happen there as well -- because if there is only matter and no God, then everything that lends savor to life, that makes life charming, that gives movement to life, that creates the desire to rise, will be gone.
What it means is: I dont see life and death as contrary to each other.
Our guru, with whom we lived, who taught us what life is all about, is close to dying.
The problems of seventy years will spread over seven hundred years -- they will be stretched that much, multiplied.
These may seem like opposite things because we have taken life and death to be opposing each other, contradictory, but they are not.
He insists on placing bricks that are all alike; he doesnt want opposing bricks.
He is still thinking about the same things.
" This is where the mistake is.
The pictures are still moving before his eyes; nothing has died.
Of course, if there is a town where people are suicidal, where no one wants to live, I wont go there and talk about the art of dying.
This needs to be understood, because it will be useful for meditation as well as in learning the art of dying.
So one who is now dead, is dead forever.
Buddha said, "God? Neither is there one, nor can there ever be one.
Life seems so dull and useless to him that he wants to bring some excitement, some juice into it -- at least by crashing against something, if nothing else.
"
He has put the bricks of birth and death together, facing each other, and thus of both a gateway to life is created.
This may not have occurred to you, but if you really should come across someone who could give you a potion and say, "Take this and you will live for seven hundred years," you would tell him, "Wait a minute, let me think it over.
One foot is rooted there; thats why the monks foot is free to move.
Ask how you can let go of this mind.
One maintained it is necessary to have money, while the other disagreed.
Meditation means to step out of the mind.
It is the same difference I am already explaining to you.
If so, you will be disappointed, because I am teaching the art of dying here.
One evening, in a great hurry, they arrived at a river.
"What are you talking about?" he exclaimed.
"And let me ask you this: who did you go to and ask how to be in agony? Which guru has initiated you into agitation? Which ashram did you go to, to learn how to be restless?"
When the storm disappears, the sea remains.
I said, "Simply get out.
This time it has happened that you have turned all the meetings into question-and-answer sessions.
All our memories of the past are thoughts.
We dont want to get away from there, and yet we want to bring peace there.
Just as two parallel lines dont meet anywhere, no meeting would ever take place between birth and death.
I told him, "You are looking for ways of becoming agitated.
Buddha said, "But why are you upset? I didnt answer you!"
Have you ever observed that a living man can drown in a river whereas a dead man floats on the surface? Have you ever wondered what this is about? A living man drowns, but never a dead man.
I have given you all seven bananas.
" The man must have been an agnostic, one who says he doesnt know whether God is or not.
We want four bananas now!"
If you had kept holding on to it, if you had not let it go, how could we have crossed the river?"
The river can do it no harm because the leaf is not fighting against the river.
He said, "You fool, let the dead bury the dead! What need is there for you to go? Come.
Let the past die every day.
Great difficulty and trouble would arise if these people were to believe that cold and hot were not only separate but contradictory things -- for the simple reason that cold and hot are not contradictory, they are different degrees of qualifying the same thing.
When I say relax your body, I mean you should let the body float.
Wherever the river wants to take it, so be it.
Let us die every day.
The delight and the joy of the floating leaf is simply out of this world.
"
One who swims will go astray.
His mind will be in great tension and trouble forever -- right there, thats his death.
"
We nourish thoughts of the past, we keep tying them to ourselves.
We only believe in matter.
Instead of swimming he just keeps floating.
The word "Die" is inscribed on the temple of God, whereas inside the stream of life is overflowing.
Buddha explained, "I had to bring the three of them to a point of balance.
There is no need even to preserve it in your memory.
For example, there is a child aged five.
Then we wont believe in samsara, in the mundane world.
This man is trying to cool down the sun.
Question 4
Someone may say the color black signifies evil.
The same question had crossed the fishermans mind many times before.
"
Then we can live a natural life.
The guru said, "Each one of you is looking at one side of the truth.
Come with me!" As they reached the outskirts of the village, a man came running.
You ask me, "Whats the answer? Whats the solution?" I say: accept death.
Those who become frightened looking at it, run away.
In this whole affair neither the theist nor the atheist wins the argument; neither the materialist nor the spiritualist wins.
What is the mistake? The mistake is we are using two words -- confused and mind -- and the truth of the matter is that there is no such thing as a confused mind.
Invite death and say, "Come on, Ill worry about living later -- first you come.
Now, when you go back home do a little experiment.
"
Let go of it.
The guru laughed a belly laugh.
So nothing will be solved by arguing.
Where he is, he is so scared, he is so afraid, he wants to get away.
When an individual is being in meditation, he is not trying to quiet down his mind; instead he is slipping away from it.
Once we decide we dont want to die, it becomes a certainty, that very moment, that our lives will be filled with problems and difficulties.
Your town is just the opposite: you are residents of a town where no one wants to die, where everyone wants to live, where people want to cling to life so hard they can keep death away forever.
You must have thought I would let you in on some trick so you would never die.
The left leg would not be able to move without the help of the right one.
Anyone can point out, "Look, the universe is created of my bricks," while someone else can argue against this, saying, "No, the universe is made of my bricks.
" These people can also show only the bricks that fall within their particular view.
I Teach Death
To extend such an invitation to death, meditation is the means, meditation is the answer.
How can he? How can two contrary things be the same? Have you ever been able to note the day a child turned into an old man? or which night? Can you note on a calendar that on such-and-such a day this man was a child and then on such-and -- such a day he became old?
The suffering you could have otherwise finished with in seventy years will be prolonged for seven hundred years -- what else? The troubles of seventy years will extend to seven hundred.
We have absolutely no idea that an extended life has no meaning.
It was close to nightfall.
The idea is to jump into the car and dash off -- fifty miles, a hundred miles, two hundred miles -- to escape to a picnic spot, to a mountain, to a hill resort, to the beach.
This shore takes you out of the river, the same as that shore does.
They search endlessly but cant find death.
A state of no-mind appears.
As Jesus was passing by a lake, a wonderful incident took place.
The leaf has broken all the strength of the river.
Say, for instance, two people are having a fight.
Just tell someone that what he thinks is wrong -- he will jump back at you saying, "What do you mean, what I think is wrong? My thoughts can never be wrong!" So the thought with a collar with your name on it comes back to you.
How can they? You have nourished them with your own blood.
The body is a substance, the atman is a substance -- and existing as a state of confusion that becomes a link between the two, is mind.
I had to tell him I was an atheist because he had become lopsided too; he had also lost his balance.
Why are you bothering to hang them on pegs?" But what am I hanging on the pegs anyway? Whatever I have to say, I will be hanging it on the pegs of your questions.
" That man would like to create his world with the bricks of God.
I just looked at his back and plunged a kni藏书网fe into it.
Where were you? We went looking for you at the lake and found your net lying there.
The bricks are the same, but making the doorway he places them opposite each other so they can hold each other.
Do not swim.
I am an absolutely ignorant man.
The leaf is very smart.
Can you float like this in the river? There should not be even a thought of swimming, not even the feeling of it; there should be no mind at all.
So one of the keys to the art of dying is: let the dead be dead.
"What has happened to Buddha?" Ananda wondered to himself.
It is sure to carry him and bring him to the ocean.
Let your thoughts die.
They said, "This is impossible, we want four bananas in the morning.
In fact, our yesterday never dies.
There are also people who say the opposite.
You have come to fight with me and the fight is on.
It is more than enough to argue for.
The distinction between them is of quantity, not of quality.
When I say to let go of the breath as well, then do not cling to the shore of breathing.
The problem is that pegs become more important than the clothes hanging on them.
And then, one day, you want them to leave you all of a sudden.
All these days you fed the dog, petted him, loved him, played with him, tied a collar around his neck, kept him in your home.
It has nothing to do with me; because of you I am calling it the art of dying.
" Only then would the people of that town come to me.
What I have talked about these four days has pertained to this.
One who is against showing anger, his forgiveness will be impotent.
The news is, he will be dead by morning.
Mind is confusion.
The very step at the bottom is connected with the step on the top.
"
So the problem remained.
The courts, the big judges and lawyers in their black gowns are discussing my case with great seriousness.
I certainly teach death, but that does not mean I am against life.
Let go of breathing too.
So he has placed anger opposite forgiveness, sex opposite brahmacharya, and because of the resistance present between them, an energy is created.
"
And a belief in either of the two parts can provide a convincing argument in its support.
All over Europe and America weekends and holidays have become a great nuisance.
One thing is certain, however: they want to get away from where they are -- away from the house, away from the wife, away from their work.
It is as if a man were to stand in the sun with his eyes closed, thinking that an umbrella is over his head and that he is not feeling hot now.
And that energy is life.
And when there is no confusion does not mean that the mind has become peaceful; then there is no more mind at all.
The river cant drown the dead man because he doesnt put up any fight.
And one who greets pain with open arms, finds there is no pain at all -- only happiness remains for him.
"Simply get lost," I said.
This mistake has been repeated many a time.
Question 2
If you cut anything out, you will find yourself in difficulty.
Now one who is dead is already dead, why even bother to bury him? These are all tricks to keep him alive.
We want four bananas right now!"
He became very restless; he couldnt figure out what was going on.
He knows that life will become cold immediately, will dissolve right away if the bricks are not laid in opposition to each other.
If birth and death were separate entities, birth would move along its own course and death on its own -- nowhere would they meet.
We nourish thoughts.
All of our past belief systems say that sex and brahmacharya, celibacy, are contrary to each other.
Let me first be finished with you so the matter is over once and for all.
The fisherman turned around to see who the man was who was raising the same question he had in his mind.
"
Whats the difference? The dead body enters into a state of no-effort.
We always find things which are hot and things which are cold.
In fact, there can never be anything like contradiction in the world, because if there were, there would be no way to unite the opposites.
" All our lives we are running.
What they are saying is, "Just show us the clothes.
How can one enter the river if he holds on to the shore? He can only be back on the shore.
As it is, you are already confused, restless.
If birth and death were contrary to each other, how could birth end in death? We can only reach to a point of our natural growth.
We can call him "an old man of five" -- whats wrong with that? It is simply linguistic usage that we say "a child five years of age.
Ask where he is going, where he wants to reach, and his answer will be, "I cant tell you right now; I dont have time.
Then what is there for me to teach you?" The way you have created your agitation, take an opposite route and you will find peace.
Doing meditation means making an effort, an effort to change the mind.
"
One of the monks approached the boatman, who was tying up his boat for the night, and said, "Please dont tie your boat up yet, bring us across the river.
We say, "disturbed mind," "confused mind.
They will bury the dead.
There is only one way to attain peace: be at peace with restlessness.
No one knows, and no one can ever know.
The power of anger itself will lend luster to the act of forgiveness.
Put yourself in his shoes.
Whether I call it the art of dying or whether I call it the art of living -- both mean the same thing.
One who attains this balance attains the truth.
" Indeed I will speak, but the question is, what will I speak? The questions merely serve as pegs; whatever I have to say, I hang on them.
But if you dont accept death you will die that very moment, because then all the bricks that are left will be alike.
He will be in great trouble.
Ask how you can do away with this mind.
So you would come across people who would agree that to walk on the left foot is righteous, and to walk on the right foot is unrighteous.
The one thing he is not doing, however, is welcoming death.
Ask how this mind can die.
And whats its smartness? The smartness of the leaf is that it has made the river its boat and is now riding on it.
And there are many dead people in the village.
We have done this in all spheres.
Suit yourself.
Instead, man will remain hanging in limbo -- in the same way all the age-old teachings have left humanity hanging in limbo.
He said, "We crossed the river not because you had money, but because you could part with it! We were able to cross the river not because you had money but because you could let go of it.
The man couldnt believe his ears.
How can restlessness last if the mind is attuned to peace?
You come with me.
The day one attains brahmacharya, the sex in repose is instrumental in that attainment -- in the same way as the stationary right leg is instrumental in the left legs moving forward.
Then there is no restlessness in life.
Let go of thoughts as well.
"
" The fisherman let go of his net and asked, "Tell me where I have to go.
"
" And as I tell you, "Meditation is the gateway to death," I would tell the people of that town, "Meditation is the gateway to life.
He has asked:
This error in expression is because of the language we have created.
" If the man were to believe this -- and there are lots of people who would believe this; people to believe in such stupid ideas have always been found.
We can say that anger, reduced to the lowest, is forgiveness -- there is no dichotomy between them.
There is no contradiction between them.
If you can leave the dead behind, you can indeed attain to life.
Remember, the white of the man who invites enmity with black will inevitably grow dull, insipid.
The stream will carry him.
A leg never walks alone, by itself, although only one leg moves forward at a time.
Mans mind is split into parts, into fragments, and there is a reason for this.
On and on friends write to me, "Please say something of your own.
He looked at Jesus.
He is getting tired, worn out, broken, but he keeps on swimming.
"But I have come to find peace," the man said.
I couldnt find anything else there.
One who says he will not accept being restless will continue to be restless, because this very non-acceptance is itself the root of restlessness.
He still carries the desire to return to his childhood.
Ananda said, "Now this tops it all! How in the world could I not hear? I was present, right there; my ears were not blocked! And could it ever be possible I wouldnt want to hear you speak? I love to hear you speak, no matter who you talk to.
He has not yet attained a balance in his life.
Just as there being only monks would take meaning away from the world, there being worldly people alone would also take meaning away.
We have always had four bananas in the morning.
"
The fisherman hesitated for a moment.
What do you want from me? Dont tell anyone you came to see me too, even by mistake.
I have been wandering in search of it for the last two years.
The ultimate thing is: the art of dying is the art of floating.
The owner said, "Ill give you four in the evening, take three now.
He feels he would be better off anywhere except where he is.
Thats why I said one has to learn how to die.
Once Buddha entered a village.
Say goodbye to it, let it depart.
No one goes inside.
"
Buddha replied, "If you dont know, then I dont know either.
An effort is not required to float; floating is merely no-effort.
After that Ill live at leisure.
Their statements are coming from a dichotomized view of life.
Such a thing can only result in splitting man into fragments and in bringing him trouble.
The more stiff you become, the further you get into difficulty, the more you go on becoming tense.
Dont walk on your right foot because the right foot represents unrighteousness
" How can you leave something you claim as yours? If you want to get rid of thoughts, then stop taking interest in them.
A seventy-year-old man keeps the happy memories of his childhood alive.
You must have seen a heap of bricks piled up in front of a house under construction.
Where are you going?"
They came to their guru.
We tell a person, "Dont be angry, be forgiving," without realizing that the difference between anger and forgiveness is again only of degrees -- as it is between cold and hot, between childhood and old age.
Meditation is not a technique to bring peace to your mind; rather, it is a technique to move away from the mind.
Subsequently, this contradiction has had ramifications on many levels.
" The fisherman paused for a moment and then followed Jesus.
There are people who say, "We will only accept the brick of life, we wont accept the brick of death.
Life is a balance.
So the leaf is in complete accord.
And besides, I also wanted to unsettle him, because somehow he had become convinced there is no God.
He is making no effort to cool down the sun, he iwww.99lib.nets merely moving away from the sun.
Watch a man swimming and a leaf floating in the river.
What are we running from? What is the fear? The fear is that on the one hand we are unable to live fully, and on the other hand the fear of death is imminent, present.
Birth turns into death.
Buddha said, "You must have heard wrong.
I am the greatest theist ever.
Meditation means cessation of the mind.
The same sort of difference exists between birth and death; otherwise one who is born will never be able to die.
"
You sit in meditation but then you always come and tell me it never happens, that thoughts keep coming.
I am an enemy of atheists.
Whether I speak or whether I answer questions, what difference does it make? Who is it that will be answering? Who is it that will be speaking? But they feel I must speak my own stuff because they have been getting four bananas every morning.
" Thats just fine, dont accept them -- but you will continue to be surrounded by what you will not accept.
The monkeys persisted, "We dont care about your arithmetic.
Is he out of his mind? Why doesnt he write on the white wall? Of course one can write on a white wall, but the letters wont stand out.
But when we look at them separately they seem like two contradictory things.
People get more tired on these days than ever.
His childhood is not yet dead.
Add them together.
And whats this you are saying?"
Dont answer questions.
In fact, the problem is
What happened today illustrates our differences succinctly.
Buddha said, "God alone is.
A criminal confesses in the court, "I had no enmity with the person, I had never seen the man before.
The meditation I am talking about is like floating, not like swimming.
"
It would be good to understand that as well.
What is the difference? If we want, we can call a seventy -- year-old man a seventy-year-old child -- after all, a child grows into an old man.
Then where will one go? If you let go of the body you will move within; if you hold on to the body you will come out.
The quarrels of seventy years will continue up to seven hundred.
Now you have heard it from my own lips.
Why is that so? It is because now, it is not trying to fall in accord with the river, it is simply floating; thats all.
You are right, Brahman is the source of the universe.
Birth grows into death -- this means birth and death are two ends of the same thing.
Buddha moved on.
So what does that mean? That means "I will continue to be as I am.
As he began pulling the net out, Jesus placed his hand on the fishermans shoulder and said, "My friend, would you spend all your life catching fish?"
What do you say? What do you think?"
The man stood there utterly confused.
His friend, the other monk, used to argue, "Why do we need money? We are renunciates, what do we need money for? Only worldly people keep money.
"
We have created a false contradiction between the two, and that has produced fatal results.
He says he wants to reach the other side.
The monks very life-breath comes from the worldly man.
And yet he goes about cursing the worldly man; he goes on telling him, "Renounce the world and become a monk.
But remember, the brilliance you see in the eyes of a brahmachari, a celibate, is the brilliance of sex energy itself.
" And, believing only in matter, they also tried to create a world of their own.
I have heard
Have you noticed that speed is continuously on the increase in the world? Everything is speedy.
We cant afford any longer to create divisions and to pit one part against the other.
Meditation is a kind of floating.
In life everything is integrated.
" Mind by itself is unhealthy.
Such a person can never attain brahmacharya.
He says, "If we believe in God, then thats all well believe in.
It is interesting that the worldly man survives with the help of the renunciate and the renunciate survives with the help of the worldly man -- in the same way the left foot is dependent on the right foot and the right foot is dependent on the left foot.
I have to get there soon.
"
Let me explain a little further through one small principle.
Buddha said, "A religious man? A believer in God? I am the greatest atheist ever.
And this attachment has become very unbalanced.
It is not difficult, because after all, a man has at least half of life to draw upon -- he is living half his life; thats not a small matter.
One who swims will, at the most, leave this shore and reach the other.
The only kind of umbrella there can be in the mind is of thoughts -- but they make no difference.
Walking, you only lift one leg at a time, which may create the wrong impression that you walk on one foot.
He thinks maybe you are having some kind of fun with him, hence the more you drive him out the more playful he becomes, the more he keeps coming back to you.
For the last ten thousand years man has been badly afflicted with and troubled by this mistake.
Invite death as well.
Birth and death are intertwined, they are two ends of a continuum.
" He made up his mind to ask Buddha in the evening, when he would be alone.
Since he doesnt fight, losing his strength is out of the question.
If you were to tell a person, "Walk only with your left foot, because the left foot stands for religion, righteousness.
This very I will now have to live for seven hundred years.
You have not to do anything, just be relaxed.
The leaf doesnt want to create any resistance, its just floating.
There is no trouble, no hindrance, no quarrel, no bother for the leaf.
There I will say, "Learn the art of living.
We can only walk with the combined movement of both legs.
But dont forget that the one at a standstill, the one in repose, is as important as the one in motion.
When a person comes forward and embraces death, death loses, death is conquered, because the man who embraces death becomes immortal.
The difference between hell and heaven is the same as between cold and hot, between the lower rung and the higher rung, between a child and an old man.
Then there is another man.
Actually, that which has died in the past should be dropped.
We say an "unhealthy body," a "healthy body.
The monks said, "No, we cant wait until morning.
You may ask, "Why dont you call it the art of living?" There are reasons for it.
Man is unable to live; thats why there is so much running about.
" There cannot be any significance, any meaning, because you have put together only bricks of matter, and of matter alone.
There was a circus.
If you look at it this way -- and this is the fact -- then what I am saying is that sex and brahmacharya are related to each other, just as the lowest and the highest rungs are.
There is a whole network of them we are holding on to.
You have the potential to go some place.
There is no such thing as a "healthy mind," an "unhealthy mind.
Peace cannot be there.
" Other people say, "The universe is made of matter, it is made of nothing but dust.
You are sitting very solidly on the scale of life, and so everything has turned to rock.
A fisherman had thrown his net in the lake to catch fish.
He wants to go on putting more power into his vehicles so he can run faster.
When peace descends it does not mean the mind becomes peaceful; rather, the mind does not exist at all.
Mind is another name for confusion.
Only their names are printed in the newspapers, the rest are ignored.
He will become heavy and wont be able to live at all -- not even for a moment.
Ask what can be done so that the mind will exist no more.
In fact, the man who is a monk has no idea that he is surviving, that his left foot moves forward, because someone, a worldly man, is running a store in the marketplace out there.
" One is just an old man of seventy, while there is someone who is five years old.
Is there any mind in which it doesnt? Of course, the fish may be different, the net may be different, the lake may be different, but nevertheless, the question arises, "Am I supposed to spend the whole of my life catching fish?"
One morning it happened there werent enough bananas in the market, so he gave them three bananas.
The fisherman must have really been a courageous man.
God knows from what kind of foolishness and during what unfortunate times the idea became fixed in the human mind that birth and death are dichotomous, that life and death are two separate things.
If you invite your enemy to be your guest, what other course is there for him but to become your friend?
Why run away from death? Accept it, welcome it.
The boatman said, "Sorry, I am finished for the day and now I have to go back to my village.
Sex which has become still becomes the foothold for the arising of brahmacharya.
Can you see his difficulty? When it was night and everyone had left, he touched Buddhas feet and said, "Are you trying to kill me? What are you doing? I almost lost my life! Never have I been so upset and restless as I have been today.
Question 1
All we care about is that we have been getting four bananas every morning.
One who agrees to die becomes worthy of living the supreme life.
It is better I save myself before I am called a hypocrite as well.
The monk paid five rupees to the boatman -- he had won.
So Buddha said, "I had to bring a balance to his life.
How can that be? The poor dog has no idea what has happened to you so suddenly, so he wanders around for a while and then comes back to you.
" So the argument remained.
What can death do when the man himself is ready to disappear?
Just as now people are looking for gurus who can rejuvenate their bodies, people then will look for someone who will show them the secret, the technique of dying, so that even scientists will not be able to save them.
As soon as a man welcomes death, accepts death, a new door opens in his life -- a door that leads him to the divine.
Do you know that the man who takes poison lovingly, joyfully, as if he were taking nectar -- the poison becomes nectar for him? If you dont, then you must find out.
Then leave that too, then float with it also.
The question is, have you ever left them? You always keep holding on to them, how can they be at fault? If a man keeps a dog, feeds him, ties him in his house and then suddenly one day sets him loose, turns him out; if the poor dog comes back to the man again and again, would the dog be at fault?
With the disappearance of unhealthiness, a healthy body remains.
Watching him, Jesus said, "Perhaps I wrongly understood you could leave your old net behind.
Where else can I find a lake? Where else can I find fish and throw my net to catch them? I also ask myself, Will I go on catching fish the rest of my life?"
The journey must go on; the search must continue.
Growth is in the seed.
The second monk laughed uproariously.
You are sitting uptight, ready, disregarding everything.
In life, the principle藏书网 of polarity is behind the creation of energy, power.
The newspapers are filled with the story.
What else do you think will happen?
In a symbolic sense, it is alright to have such distinctions, but if someone were to say, "Lets get rid of black, lets remove black from the face of the earth," then remember, with the removal of black, very little white will be left behind -- because the whiteness of white stands out in all its sharpness only against a black background.
The biggest secret of life is to learn how to die, how to accept death.
Please answer me, right now.
There are people who believe black is a sign of evil, and there are people who believe white is a sign of purity.
We cant stay overnight.
Now you try to calm yourself down -- that means you will be adding one more headache.
Ananda said, "Maybe not, but I am in a quandary.
Where will you go now? Now you will begin to float in that stream which flows within.
A good mans name never appears in the papers; you only see names of murderers and criminals.
They have written over and over again, "Please say something of your own.
Looking at all this, I feel I have also done something, I am not an ordinary man.
Now there is another man.
Meditation is a means to slip away, to turn away from the waves of confusion.
Then the architect, the engineer, in order to make an arch for a doorway in the house, lays the bricks in opposing order.
I want peace.
He is trying to "do" meditation.
The lowest point of sex is brahmacharya.
Would you call it a "restless storm"? Would anyone call it a "restless storm"? You would simply call it a storm, because a storm is just another name for restlessness.
Instead, see what happens by accepting, by agreeing to something no one else wants to agree to.
Looking at the signboard -- "Die" -- people turn back.
But one who can see the whole staircase will deny such a distinction.
"
Then Jesus said, "I am a fisherman too, but I throw my net in some other ocean.
"
With the change in our state of mind the restlessness departs.
Question 3
I have nothing to do with whats happening to you!"
Two monks were involved in an ongoing dispute.
A living man can drown because a living man makes an effort to stay alive.
This is not the way.
Thats why no one is allowed to wear black at marriages; black is allowed at somebodys death.
31 October 1969 pm in Mediation Camp at Dwarka, Gujarat, India
"In the morning he said he was the greatest theist, while in the afternoon he said he was the greatest atheist.
There is nothing but God everywhere.
Both things are interconnected.
If I were to step aside, how would the fight continue? It would stop, because it can only continue if I make myself a part of it.
If you learn how to die, then life and death will stand before you equally; they will become your left and right foot.
Lets assume there is a place where mad people live.
If one asks where they want to reach, they dont know.
The man is too old to move about, he is bedridden, but his youth is not yet dead.
Go ahead.
This seems contradictory.
There is absolutely no God.
Some friends, however, believed I was merely answering questions.
The distance between the two is not one of enmity and contradiction.
His speed disappears.
In its ultimate state life contains neither birth nor death, but it is made of the two aspects we call birth and death.
The first thing is, we have become extremely attached to life.
There is another small question.
All the bricks are the same.
"
Even though it may be a nonacceptance of restlessness, the very restlessness itself is the product of our attitude of nonacceptance.
Let the past be past.
If we move away, it ceases to be.
Its very being is a disease.
But the other part is equally true.
Yesterday was finished yesterday; now it is no more -- and yet it keeps its hold over us.
No matter how much you go through a process of rejuvenation, you will still have to die.
It is so strange that one who says, "Sex is contrary to brahmacharya, so lets get rid of sex," will himself be ultimately destroyed in his attempts to get rid of sex.
Have you ever thought about the distinction between childhood and old age? Ordinarily we think they are opposite to each other -- childhood on the one hand, old age on the other.
I said, "Get up and walk out that door right this moment, otherwise I shall be proven to be a hypocrite as well.
The fisherman said, "Please let me take leave for a few days to perform my fathers last rites.
It is true you could hire the boat and cross the river only because you let go of money -- but the other side is equally true: you could part with your money because you had money to part with.
One who embraces death will instantly triumph over it; defeat will no longer exist in his life.
Take a pot containing hot water, a pot containing cold water, and a pot containing water at room temperature.
Let me take care of you first, then Ill settle down and live comfortably.
So there was a great dispute between these monks.
Then what is the answer?
Yes, I teach the very art of dying.
As man moves up the ladder of sex, he enters into brahmacharya.
They asked him, "What shall we do? This has become quite a problem.
Once a man came to me.
What is this you have been saying and doing the whole day? Are you in your right mind? Are you sure you know what you said today? In the morning you said one thing, in the afternoon another, and in the evening you gave an entirely different answer to the same question.
He caught hold of the fisherman and said, "You madman, where are you going? Your father, who was ill, has died.
The meaning of life comes with living.
Drop your net right there.
In understanding the mind, remember too, mind is just another name for confusion.
God, the divine architect of life, is very intelligent.
"I heard a religious man had come to this village, so I came to ask whether God is.
The rest merely see the bricks that fall within the range of their view.
I call it the art of dying so you can regain your balance.
He will say, "The difference between the steps below and the steps above only appears because of the steps in between.
We never gather the courage to die; we never let anything die, and consequently everything piles up.
And there are those who seek death, but it keeps eluding them.
We want to live; we dont want to die -- but we dont know that death is already part of life.
He has summoned us.
Thats why people like Sartre, Camus, Kafka and others talk so much about meaninglessness in the West.
It no longer exists, let it go.
The difference between hell and heaven is not of quality, the difference is only of quantity.
If I should say, "Come learn the art of living," you would come running because you would want to strengthen your attachment to life.
He said, "There is no other way.
Then what is the nature of the water really? If, simultaneously, one hand feels it is hot and the other feels the same water is cold, then we will have to realize the water is neither hot nor cold -- its feeling hot or cold is relative to our hands.
Jesus words in reply to the fisherman are tremendously wonderful.
One who is prepared to die never swims.
Both feet are part of the same being: one keeps it rooted; the other causes it to move.
" The man stood there under the tree with an uneasy feeling.
The apparent diversity is like the notes of a great symphony.
If a persons sex is destroyed -- and there are means to destroy sex -- then remember, that will not make him a brahmacharya, a celibate, he will simply turn into an impotent person.
Dont simply answer questions" -- as if someone else were giving the answers!
What else will he do? What more can a swimmer do? He will go from one shore to the other.
We dont let the yesterdays past die.
The body is sure to die.
He has let himself go in the river.
Jesus said, "You seem to be a man of courage.
Doing meditation is an effort too.
What knowledge can I have?"
Life will have to be investigated, known in its totality.
" I dont believe any one of you would agree to take a potion that would extend life for seven hundred years.
Meditation is a way to be finished with the mind, to part with the mind.
" I would tell them, "Come, learn how to live, because unless you have learned how to live, you wont know how to die.
And remember, I am giving you the very key to be victorious over death.
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TO BE IN MEDITATION, AND TO DO MEDITATION?
When a drop is lost in the vast ocean, the absolute meaning of life, the supreme bliss of life, the paramount beauty of life is attained.
He said, "I had heard you are enlightened, so I thought you must have known.
Night is approaching and we must reach the other side.
The boatman said, "Okay, Ill take you over for five rupees.
Meaning is bound to disappear absolutely.
I ask you to meditate because meditation is relaxation.
Sex, dropping downward, decreasing, is brahmacharya.
Put one hand in the hot water and another hand in cold water.
Have you ever watched? When you are angry and you are cycling, you pedal faster.
Is that water hot or cold? One hand will say it is hot, the other will say it is cold.
When the confused mind ceases to exist, then what remains is atman, soul.
I have been saying the same thing all along.
A man says, "I wont accept restlessness, I cant accept suffering, I cant accept death, I cant accept darkness.
Man is the same, but we have created divisions inside him and have also determined that these divisions are contrary to each other.
It may look as if the lower steps and the steps on top are separate, far away from each other.
And there is a fundamental difference between these two things.
He said, "I have been to the Ramana ashram, to Pondicherry, and to the Ramakrishna ashram -- they are all full of hypocrisy.
A friend has asked:
The whole of mankind has become schizophrenic.
The very goal is to reach the ocean -- the river becomes the ocean and the individual consciousness becomes the divine.
It was early morning -- the sun was about to rise; the horizon had just turned red.
I have come straight from there.
We can understand this mans confusion -- but Ananda, a disciple of Buddhas, was in a terrible suspense; he had heard both conversations.
Then you will attain to the ultimate life.
We have to land on the moon; we have to land on Mars.
If you get mixed up counting, you might miss the point.
If we divide things which are essentially one into separate parts -- not only separate but contradictory parts -- the ultimate result can be nothing but the creation of a schizophrenic, insane man.
The monkeys insisted, "This has never happened before.
I have come to ask you, what do you think about Gods existence?"
The more fierce the anger, that much greater will be the magnanimity of forgiveness.