< Previous | Contents | Next >
Chapter 6 - Cages of gold
6
Cages of gold
7 August 1988 pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium OUR BELOVED MASTER,
SEIGEN SAID:
IF NOW YOU COMPREHEND IT, WHERE IS THAT WHICH YOU DID NOT
COMPREHEND BEFORE? WHAT YOU WERE DELUDED ABOUT BEFORE IS WHAT
YOU ARE NOW ENLIGHTENED ABOUT, AND WHAT YOU ARE NOW
ENLIGHTENED ABOUT, IS WHAT YOU WERE DELUDED ABOUT BEFORE.
THERE ARE ONLY TWO DISEASES: ONE IS RIDING AN ASS TO SEARCH FOR
THE ASS; THE OTHER IS RIDING AN ASS AND BEING UNWILLING TO DISMOUNT.
YOU SAY THAT RIDING AN ASS TO SEARCH FOR THE ASS IS SILLY, AND THAT
HE WHO DOES IT SHOULD BE PUNISHED. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS DISEASE.
BUT I TELL YOU, DO NOT SEARCH FOR THE ASS AT ALL. THE INTELLIGENT
MAN, UNDERSTANDING MY MEANING, STOPS HIS ERROR OF
SEARCHING FOR
THE ASS, AND THUS THE DELUDED STATE OF HIS MIND CEASES TO EXIST.
BUT IF, HAVING FOUND THE ASS ONE IS UNWILLING TO DISMOUNT, THIS
DISEASE IS MOST DIFFICULT TO CURE. I SAY TO YOU, DO NOT RIDE THE ASS AT
ALL. YOU YOURSELF ARE THE ASS. MOUNTAINS, RIVERS AND PLAINS ARE ALL
THE ASS. WHY DO YOU RIDE ON IT? IF YOU RIDE, YOU CANNOT CURE YOUR
DISEASE. BUT IF YOU DO NOT RIDE, THE UNIVERSE IN ALL DIRECTIONS
BECOMES ONE WIDE EXPANSE. WITH THESE TWO DISEASES EXPELLED, NOTHING REMAINS TO AFFECT YOUR MIND. THIS IS SPIRITUAL CULTIVATION.
YOU NEED DO NOTHING MORE.
Maneesha, Seigen is raising a very important question. And he not only raises the question, he also gives the answer. That is the way of a master. To raise a question is very easy, but to give the right answer is very difficult, because the right answer is only one.
Millions of questions are possible, but millions of answers are not there.
Before I read you the sutra, I would like to tell you the essence of it. Because it is old Zen language, it looks complicated, but it is not.
All that he is saying is that searching for the self is stupid. It is a disease, and almost incurable. But if by chance you find the self and become enlightened, you have jumped from one disease to another.
Your enlightenment is not a cure. Your enlightenment is now another possession. Now you will be bragging about it. It will not give you freedom but new fetters -
- just more shiny, more beautiful, more up to date. Osho - The Miracle
82
< Previous | Contents | Next >