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

CHAPTER 4. LIE DOWN AND WITNESSeven they are saying that Buddha has expounded the truth of The Diamond Sutra. Hyakujo saysthat such a man will never understand what I mean’.It is something like...Lao Tzu wrote a small treatise under compulsion. His first statement makes itclear. He says ”Truth cannot be said. And that which can be said, can never be true. Now whatever Isay, remember my first statement.” You cannot say the truth. You can only make certain indications,hints, at the most.HYAKUJO CONTINUED, ”NOW, IF YOU SAY THAT IT WAS NOT EXPOUNDED BY THE BUDDHA,YOU WILL THEREBY BELITTLE THAT SUTRA. WILL YOU VIRTUOUS ONES PLEASE LET MESEE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY TO THAT?”AS THEY MADE NO REPLY, THE MASTER PAUSED AWHILE BEFORE ASKING HIS NEXTQUESTION, WHICH WAS: ”THE DIAMOND SUTRA SAYS: ‘HE WHO SEEKS ME THROUGHOUTWARD APPEARANCE, OR SEEKS ME IN SOUND, TREADS THE HETERODOX PATH ANDCANNOT PERCEIVE THE TATHAGATA.’”Heterodox” means the path of the people who do not understand Buddha, who go against Buddha.Anybody who says and tries to find, in the diamond Sutra, the truth, is just like the Heterodox, theopponents–and there were many opponents. India has seen a very strange time. Just in that smallstate of Bihar, from Maitreya has come. There were eight teachers in the time of Buddha whoall claimed enlightenment, and they all differed on every point. And I have been reading all thosepeople, and my understanding is they were all enlightened. Strange time: in a small state, eightenlightened people continuously moving around and around in the state, teaching conflicting views.But they were all very beautiful people.Six of them have completely been forgotten. Only Buddha and Mahavir have remained in thememories of man. The other six were more eccentric, more intelligent. And they have been forgottenfor the simple reason they never made anybody a follower, who was going to carry their teachings,who was going to preserve their scriptures.So only we know their names in the teachings of Buddha where he criticizes them, or in the wordsof Mahavira where he criticizes them, so we know that these six people were in existence. And theywere important enough that Buddha has to criticize them, but we don’t know exactly what was theirteaching. Even in the criticism of Buddha he has first to expound their teaching and then criticizeit. That small piece that he takes to criticize seems to be so significant that we don’t know in whatcontext it was said, because Buddha is not talking about the context, so his criticism looks right.But I have been trying to find...there is no visible signs of any scriptures left of these people: Ajit KaysKumberley, Sanjay Belattiputta. But I have been, in my own imagination, creating the whole contextin which those sentences will fit, which are condemned by Buddha. But if you put it in that context,Buddha’s criticism does not make any sense. Those people were in their own right as illumined, asawakened, as Gautam Buddha himself. But it does not mean that all awakened people should agreewith each other. If they agree, good! But they are free not to agree! Existence is multi-dimensional,and every teacher can take a certain dimension. And you may not take that dimension at all inaccount. Then your opinions will be absolutely opposite.Hyakujo: The Everest of Zen, with Basho’s Haikus 65 Osho