Hyakujo: The Everest of Zen, with Basho's Haikus - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 2. THE GREAT PEARLme? Why did you said this? Why did you expose me?” The work of the master is not just full ofroses. It is one of the most delicate works of art to help a man become a buddha. A slight mistakeand everything is spoiled. And the problem is not the master, the problem is the disciple. How thedisciple is going to take your word is not within your control.So Buddha said, ”I am thinking not to speak at all. Those who are capable of becoming buddhaswill become buddhas – a little late perhaps – and those who are too much involved in darkness andmundane activities are not going to listen to me. They will simply waste my time and will be angryat me that I am wasting their time.”But the people who were urging him said, ”You are ninety-nine point nine percent right, but pleasethink of the point one percent. You may fail with ninety-nine point nine percent of the people, but youmay succeed in helping one person out of one hundred to become a buddha. This is such a greatevent that those failures can be simply forgotten – they don’t matter. Anyway they were not goingto become buddhas; you need not be worried about them. But think of that point one percent. Youwill be very unkind to those who are just on the periphery. A little push, a little kindly word that givesthem a sense of urgency; a little look in their eyes that gives them the depth that they also contain;a little touch of love, the warmth of a buddha, just his gesture...”And Buddha agreed. His agreement is one of the greatest agreements that has been made inhuman history. He could have disagreed. There was no way to force him, but then something greatwould have been completely forgotten. At least it is remembered here and there. Some peoplestill become buddhas, still reach to the same heights, because they know somebody has alreadytraveled the path. ”If one man is capable of becoming a buddha, then there is no reason why Icannot become a buddha.” This gives great courage, and great encouragement.But the intellectual mind, not understanding the inner process of enlightenment, noncausal,nonlogical, immediately jumps to the conclusion that there is a contradiction. Here you are sayingthat there are no mental processes which are of any use. By your mind you cannot reachbuddhahood, you will have to drop the mind, so what is the use of mental processes? Mind asa whole entity has to be pushed aside so that you can see clearly and directly, without any thoughtsgathering in front of your eyes. There is no goal. The moment you find utter silence and a deepunderstanding of yourself, your roots, you simply have a laugh – just a laugh that ”I have beensearching for the person who is hiding behind me, inside me, at my very center.”But he immediately asked, ”There is a contradiction because you teach people to meditate, youteach people certain devices. What is the point?”HYAKUJO SAID, ”THIS OLD MONK DOES NOT POSSESS EVEN A DOT OF GROUND IN WHICHTO STICK AN AWL.”He is saying that he does not possess any mind to answer and satisfy your contradiction.”WHY, MASTER, YOU ARE LYING TO MY FACE!” EXCLAIMED TAO KUANG.That is an eternal problem: the master has to lie. And if you think only of his lying, you will neverunderstand that he was lying out of compassion, and that those lies were just preparing a groundfor you to take a jump in.Hyakujo: The Everest of Zen, with Basho’s Haikus 22 Osho