Kapitel 29: #
DOGEN WROTE:
TO STUDY THE WAY IS TO STUDY THE SELF.
Now these are tremendously valuable statements. He is saying, "Don't ask about the way - there is no way."
TO STUDY THE WAY IS TO STUDY THE SELF. The way leads away, and the further you go in search, the more you are lost. Drop all going and remain at home, just doing nothing. As Basho has said:
ANCIENT POND.
A FROG JUMPS,
AND GREAT SILENCE.
And Basho was just sitting there, so he wrote a small poem, sitting silently, doing nothing:
A frog jumps in the ancient pond.
A little sound and then great silence.
We are little sounds in a great silence. Between us and the universe there is not much more difference than between a sound and silence.
In every temple in the East we have used different kinds of bells. Even today they are used without any understanding. The reason is to give you a message - you ring the bell, a sound is created from nowhere. It echoes in the empty temple, it re-echoes, and every echo becomes more silent, more silent, and finally it disappears. Our existence is nothing but a sound in an immense ocean of silence.
TO STUDY THE WAY IS TO STUDY THE SELF.
Don't bother about the way, just study yourself.
TO STUDY THE SELF IS TO FORGET THE SELF.
Who is going to study the self? The one who is going to study the self has already dropped the self.
The one who is studying the self is the witness - your real self.
TO STUDY THE SELF IS TO FORGET THE SELF. TO FORGET THE SELF IS TO BE
ENLIGHTENED BY ALL THINGS.
Then it does not matter in what situation you are - any situation will make you enlightened. People have become enlightened in every kind of situation you can imagine. The question is, if the self is dropped - then you may be chopping wood or carrying water from the well, it does not matter.
The moment there is no self - only a witnessing, a silent watchfulness - you are enlightened by all things.
TO BE ENLIGHTENED BY ALL THINGS IS TO REMOVE THE BARRIERS BETWEEN ONE'S SELF
AND OTHERS.
To be enlightened simply means: neither I exist nor you exist. What exists is something transcendental to I and thou, something more, something bigger and higher.
THEN THERE IS NO TRACE OF ENLIGHTENMENT ....
In such a small passage he has condensed so much. Each sentence could have become a scripture.
THEN THERE IS NO TRACE OF ENLIGHTENMENT, THOUGH ENLIGHTENMENT ITSELF
CONTINUES INTO ONE'S DAILY LIFE ENDLESSLY.
Once you have become enlightened, it is not that every day you have to remember that you are enlightened; that every morning, shaving before the mirror, you have to remember that you are enlightened; or going to the market, you have to remember not to behave against enlightenment.
Once you have become enlightened your every act is automatically of awareness, of consciousness.
Soon you forget all about enlightenment because it has become your very body, your very bones, your very blood, your marrow - it has become your very being. Now there is no need to remember it.
There have been masters who have forgotten completely that they are enlightened because there is no need to remember it. Their masters have hit them on their heads. The Zen stick came into existence for very certain purposes. One of the purposes was that somebody who has become enlightened and is still sitting silently has to be hit to be made aware, "Now go away! Get on! Pick up your rented bicycle! What are you doing here?"
Enlightenment does not happen twice - once is enough. The master hits as a reward, to remind you, "Now there is no need to be near me."
There are beautiful stories ...
Mahakashyapa became enlightened, and he would not even come near Buddha. He used to sit far away, under a tree; for years he had been meditating there. He became enlightened ... now he was afraid to come close to Buddha because he would recognize. Buddha himself had to walk towards Mahakashyapa and say, "Mahakashyapa, don't try to deceive me. Now there is no need to sit under this tree. Get on and move! There are millions of people who are still groping in darkness, and you are sitting here enlightened. Take this fire of your enlightenment and make as many people aflame as possible."
Mahakashyapa had tears in his eyes. He said, "I have been hiding, who told you? I know that now this has happened a difficulty ... I am enlightened, and I cannot go near to you. I want to touch your feet, but I touch your feet, make the gesture of touching your feet, just from far away under the tree.
Because I know, once one is enlightened he will be sent away."
Another disciple of Gautam Buddha, Sariputta, made it a condition. When he took initiation he was already a very famous scholar of his time.
He made it a condition, "If by chance I become enlightened, please don't send me away. I want to remain always by your side. If enlightenment means that I will have to go away, I will not become enlightened, so it is up to you."
Buddha said, "Don't be worried. First become enlightened, then we will see."
He said, "No, I want it as a promise. Enlightenment is certain by your side. And if you don't give me a promise, you will be the barrier to my enlightenment."
Buddha said, "You are putting me into difficulty. If everybody starts saying, 'Don't send us away," how I am going to manage?" - already ten thousand sannyasins were moving with him from one village to another village.
He said, "Sariputta, you are such a great scholar, you should understand. Because enlightenment is not only enlightenment, it is also a great responsibility. You have come to realize the ultimate peace, the joy, the blissfulness." Now it is your responsibility to share it, go as far away as possible. Now there is no point in sitting by the side of the master.
THEN THERE IS NO TRACE OF ENLIGHTENMENT, THOUGH ENLIGHTENMENT ITSELF
CONTINUES INTO ONE'S DAILY LIFE ENDLESSLY.
THE FIRST TIME WE SEEK THE LAW - by law is meant the ultimate law of existence - WE ARE
FAR AWAY FROM THE BORDER OF IT. BUT SOON AFTER THE LAW HAS BEEN CORRECTLY
TRANSMITTED TO US ...
I have explained to you what transmission is: it is not through words, it is through the presence. It is through being close, in trust, in love, that something jumps from the master's inner being and makes you aflame. It is a quantum leap of consciousness. It is almost like two candles: one is lit, another is unlit. If you bring both the candles closer, there will come a moment when the flame of the lit candle will take a jump - you can see the jump - and the unlit candle also becomes lit. And the lit candle does not lose anything. The unlit candle was carrying the possibility, the potentiality; it just needed an opportunity.
The master is the opportunity.
THE FIRST TIME WE SEEK THE LAW WE ARE FAR AWAY FROM THE BORDER OF IT.
BUT SOON AFTER THE LAW HAS BEEN CORRECTLY TRANSMITTED TO US, WE ARE
ENLIGHTENED PERSONS.
Everybody is a buddha, either awake or asleep. Only this small distinction exists; otherwise there is no lower or higher. There is nothing wrong in being a sleeping buddha - it is your choice. A little more sleep is not going to harm anybody - just don't snore, because that will create a disturbance in other people's sleep.
A Catholic priest was in great difficulty. An old man, the richest man of his congregation, used to sit in front of him, and he used to come with his small grandchild. And the old man, as the sermon would start, would start snoring. It was such a disturbance to the priest, but the man was rich and he was donating so much to the church that he could not be interfered with. But somehow it had to be stopped; otherwise sooner or later everybody would be sleeping, snoring, and he would be preaching to them. This disease had to be stopped.
He tried to find a way. He pulled the little child aside when they were leaving and asked him, "Can you do something, for God's sake?"
He said, "I never do anything without money. I don't know God or God's sake - just money." A real businessman's son.
The Catholic priest said, "Okay. I will give you a quarter dollar if you keep the old man awake.
Whenever he snores wake him up - just hit him with your knee."
He said, "In advance, because I don't do anything without the money in advance. And if the old man comes to know, there is going to be trouble. So better give me the advance first, I am taking a risky job." The priest had to give him a quarter dollar.
The next Sunday morning, when the old man started snoring, the little boy hit him again and again to wake him up. The old man said, "What has happened to you? You used to sit silently. You have been coming with me always."
He said, "It is a business matter."
The old man said, "What do you mean?"
He said, "I am getting a quarter dollar to keep you awake."
The old man said, "That's simple - I will give you half a dollar to let me sleep."
He said, "Okay - in advance."
The old man gave him half a dollar and the boy stopped waking him up. The preacher made many signs to the boy, "Just do something!" But the boy closed his eyes, as if he was in great meditation.
After the church, the priest caught hold of the boy saying, "You are very cunning. You took the money in advance, and for half of the sermon you were doing perfectly well. Then why did you start behaving in such a way - as if you were meditating? For years I have been seeing you; you have never closed your eyes."
He said, "You don't understand: business is business."
The priest said, "What do you mean?"
He said, "The old man has given me half a dollar. Naturally, I had to stop. Now, if you are ready for one dollar next Sunday ... But it is always a risk; the old man may give me two dollars."
The priest thought, "This is a difficult thing for a poor priest. The rise of the price will go on, because that old man is rich, he can give anything."
He thought, "It is better to talk to the old man." He said to him, "I don't object to your sleep because sleep is not - according to the holy scriptures - a sin. You can sleep. But snoring ... that too is not sin according to any holy scripture, but it interferes with other sleepers. And to interfere in somebody else's life is certainly immoral. There are many others who are sleeping, I know. But who comes to the church? People who are utterly tired come to the church to have at least a good morning sleep. You are disturbing them. And this boy is going to prove a great businessman. He has already managed ... he asked for payment in advance."
The old man said, "There is no point in getting into competition because, whatever price has to be given, I will give. But for God's sake let me sleep - and I am going to snore. It is my birthright."
This much is the difference between your essential buddhahood and your snoring buddhahood. Just give a good shake ...
You will be surprised to know that there used to be two groups of Christians: one was called "Quakers" and the other was called "Shakers." In their church the Quakers quake just to keep themselves awake, and the Shakers shake just to keep themselves awake. I think those two groups, which have almost disappeared, represent the most essential part of any religion. Christianity is poorer because of the decline of those two groups.
It is perfectly right if you can help to wake up your buddha by shaking. What is wrong with it? What are you doing in the Dynamic Meditation? It is just a mix of shaking and quaking.
Soon you will be entering into our every evening's meditation and you will see that nobody ever has disturbed the sleep so much - not only their own, but for miles around nobody can sleep. We are determined to make everybody a buddha.
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein