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Chapter 3 - Unhitch the Universe
pine trees and rosebushes. They are on the way to buddhahood; sooner or later they will also be human beings. But whether they know it or not, it does not matter. As far as their innermost nature is concerned, it remains the same.
The difference between the buddha and the rest of existence is simply that the buddha has awakened to his reality. So the buddha is continuously trying to wake you up; creating devices, methods, knowing perfectly well that you are asleep, that you only need some cold water thrown into your eyes. But the madman does not believe that you are also a buddha.
Jesus Christ belongs to the category of madmen, because of his statement that he is the only begotten son of God, and you are just sheep. He is your shepherd; he will lead you and, if he is leading you, you are on the right path -- have faith in him! If you go astray you will be lost. In fact he is saying, "Don't have faith in yourself. Give your faith to me, I am the only one who is connected directly with God. Have trust in me." No buddha will say that.
In the eyes of a buddha this is sheer nonsense. This is the difference between Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism, Mohammedanism -- all the religions of the world on one side -- and Zen, standing alone, in utter sanity. Zen says that you all have the universal consciousness. Nobody is special. A few people are asleep and a few people are awake, there is not much of a difference.
DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO ARE THE PATRIARCHS AND BUDDHAS? ALL
OF YOU LISTENING TO MY TEACHING HERE BEFORE ME ARE SUCH.
I can accept Rinzai as an authentic master. He knows what he is saying, because he is not putting himself over others. He is just saying that we are all part of one consciousness.
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."
The very idea of becoming a buddha is stupid, because you are a buddha. The question is of waking up, not of becoming.
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.
A footnote: "In China, the heart is believed to be the seat of thought, or intelligence, and its western equivalent is mind. A TRUE MAN OF NO FIXED POSITION is the mind which, according to Huang Po, also known as Obaku, has neither location nor direction because it is as immense as space."
This footnote must be from the translator. The red heart does not mean the mind.
In Zen tradition the red heart is simply the one that the physician and the physiologist know, the one Osho - The Miracle
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