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

CHAPTER 1. THE LANGUAGE OF SUDDENNESSI have heard that an American Christian, a very rich man but very miserly, went to Israel. And everyvisitor is bound to go to Lake Galilee which is the holiest place – where Jesus lived for most of hislife. And he asked the boatman, ”How much will it cost to take me to the place where Jesus walkedon water?”He said, ”It will cost ten dollars.”The American said, ”That explains everything about how Jesus walked on water. Ten dollars? Forgetabout it. I am not in a mood to walk on water.”You will not find in Buddha anything that is not possible for you. He is as human a being as you are.He does not proclaim himself to be anything special. That is his grandeur. That is his greatness.In this incident, Hyakujo is asking his mother, pointing to the statue of Buddha, ”What is that?”The mother said, ”That is a buddha.”Hyakujo said, ”He looks like a man.”He never tried to look like anything else, he simply wanted to look like man so that every man canbe encouraged – that you don’t have to walk on water, you don’t have to turn water into whiskey....You can be a buddha without any difficulty because it is your inner nature. It does not depend onmiracles. Religion is not magic. It is a very simple and humble effort to search within yourself for thedeepest point where you are joined with the universe. That joining point is the buddha.Hyakujo said, even though he was a small child, ”He looks like a man. I want to become a buddhaafterwards. If this man could become a buddha, I am also a man. Right now I am too small, but lateron, I am going to become a buddha.”Hyakujo became a monk afterwards, when he was twenty years old. He joined a monastery at YuehChou, and his first master was called Tao-chih. Tao-chih gave him his first spiritual name which wasHui Hai meaning, Ocean of Wisdom.Hyakujo was not a monk for long before he heard about the great master, Ma Tzu, and went to himat Chiang-si.Maneesha has asked:BELOVED OSHO,WHEN HYAKUJO FIRST ARRIVED AT CHIANG-SI TO PAY HIS RESPECTS TO MA TZU, MA TZUINQUIRED, ”FROM WHERE HAVE YOU COME?”These are Zen questions. They don’t mean what they appear to mean. When he says, ”From wherehave you come?” he means: From where in the eternity have you come here? Are you aware ofyour eternal nature? – that you are coming here from utter emptiness?Hyakujo: The Everest of Zen, with Basho’s Haikus6Osho