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Chapter 3 - Unhitch the Universe
3
Unhitch the Universe
4 August 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER,
ON ONE OCCASION, RINZAI SAID:
STUDENTS OF TODAY FAIL TO ACHIEVE THEIR ENDS. WHAT IS THEIR
FAULT? IT LIES IN NOT HAVING FAITH IN THEMSELVES. BY LACK OF FAITH
YOU FALL INTO A STATE OF UNCERTAINTY, IN WHICH YOU CONFORM TO ALL
THE FLUCTUATIONS IN YOUR SURROUNDINGS, SUBJECTING YOURSELF TO
THEIR MYRIAD REVOLUTIONS, SO THAT YOU ARE UNABLE TO ACHIEVE
FREEDOM. IF YOU, HOWEVER, SUCCEED IN STOPPING THE MIND, AS IT
MOMENTARILY DASHES HITHER AND THITHER IN ITS SEARCH, YOU THEN
BECOME INDISTINGUISHABLE FROM THE PATRIARCHS AND BUDDHAS.
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO ARE THE PATRIARCHS AND BUDDHAS? ALL
OF YOU LISTENING TO MY TEACHING HERE BEFORE ME ARE SUCH.
YOU FOLLOWERS OF THE WAY, THERE IS NO NEED FOR YOU TO DEVOTE
EFFORT TO THE BUDDHIST TEACHING. ONLY DO THE ORDINARY THINGS WITH
NO SPECIAL EFFORT: RELIEVE YOUR BOWELS, PASS WATER, WEAR YOUR
CLOTHES, EAT YOUR FOOD, AND, WHEN TIRED, LIE DOWN. THE SIMPLE
FELLOW WILL LAUGH AT YOU, BUT THE WISE WILL UNDERSTAND.
AN ANCIENT SAID: ALL THOSE WHO STRIVE OUTWARDLY ARE STUPID.
SUFFICE IT TO BE ONE'S OWN MASTER WHEREVER ONE MAY HAPPEN TO BE, AND REALITY WILL PREVAIL EVERYWHERE. THUS ONE WILL REMAIN
UNSHAKEN UNDER ALL CIRCUMSTANCES.
RINZAI SAID ON ANOTHER OCCASION: IN YOUR RED HEART, THERE IS A TRUE MAN OF NO FIXED POSITION, WHO COMES IN AND GOES OUT THROUGH
YOUR FOREHEAD. I URGE THOSE WHO HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED THIS, TO TRY
TO SEE IT.
Maneesha, Zen is for the simple, for the ordinary, for the natural. But the mind of man is for just the opposite; it wants to be extraordinary, it wants to be special, it wants to be known.
Respectability, reputation, honor, riches -- they are all desires for making you special.
But to be special is against nature. In nature everything is as it is. Nobody is feeling any inferiority complex, and nobody is suffering from any superiority complex. The roses are beautiful because they don't claim any superiority. There are thousands of flowers but there is no competition, everything is unique in its simplicity. They are not running a marathon race, competing with each other to come first; they are immensely satisfied as they are. In the whole animal kingdom -- and all the trees, all the clouds, all the stars -- nobody wants to be something else. Because even if you try to be something else, it will be only phony.
Osho - The Miracle 33
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