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

CHAPTER 2. THE GREAT PEARLmyself made by you. And don’t think about money. You say it and it will be given.” The woman wassuper rich.Picasso wanted to tolerate her but he could not tolerate the money. He was in immense need ofmoney. Just for his paintings he needed money, but he did not want to make a portrait, knowingperfectly well that when he started painting he forgot himself, so that what came out may not looklike this woman. So he said to her, ”Listen... ten million dollars.”She said, ”Okay. Start the work.”He said, ”My God. I asked for ten million so as not to get involved in this work. I have to explain toyou that when I start painting, I forget myself. The colors catch me so hard, their beauty becomesso immense, that I don’t know what I am doing; the painting starts painting itself. That’s why I havenever done a portrait, but if you insist, I will make an effort – and I cannot lose ten million dollars.But you have to make me a promise: you cannot criticize my painting on any point.”She said, ”Agreed.”The painting was done. The woman could not understand what had happened. She could not findwhere she was in the painting at all. It was a beautiful painting – great colors, very psychedelic, butit was not a portrait. And she had agreed not to criticize so she said, ”I am not criticizing, but I justwant to know where my nose is, so from that point I can figure out where I am.”Picasso said, ”This is the difficulty. I had told you beforehand that when I paint, I forget. Now I don’tknow where your nose is. You take the painting and meditate over it. Sometime you may find thatthis is your nose, and then figure out... around it there may be some eyes, a mouth.”The woman said, ”This is a strange kind of portrait that I have to figure out where my nose is.”Once it happened, a rich man came and he wanted, ”Picasso, two paintings, immediately.” Picassohad only one painting ready so he went in and cut the painting in two.The girlfriend who used to be with Picasso, said, ”What are you doing?”He said, ”I cannot miss that customer. He is a rich man and he wants two paintings. I will make twopaintings immediately. Anyway nobody can discover what the painting is, whether it is together or intwo parts.” He made two paintings, and he sold two paintings.Those who have purchased his paintings, even in great museums, find it difficult to know how tohang them – which way up... which way down.... You can hang them any way. They are beautiful,but you cannot make any sense of that beauty.And another haiku by Basho:FOR HIS MORNING TEAA MONK SITS DOWN IN UTTER SILENCE –Hyakujo: The Everest of Zen, with Basho’s Haikus 28 Osho