< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 1 The Tale of the Sands 21 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall A STREAM, FROM ITS SOURCE IN FAR-OFF MOUNTAINS, PASSING THROUGH EVERY KIND AND DESCRIPTION OF COUNTRYSIDE, AT LAST REACHED THE SANDS OF THE DESERT. JUST AS IT HAD CROSSED EVERY OTHER BARRIER, THE STREAM TRIED TO CROSS THIS ONE, BUT IT FOUND AS IT RAN INTO THE SAND, ITS WATERS DISAPPEARED....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 2 Trust in Allah... 22 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 WHY ARE YOU AGAINST ASCETIC PRACTICES? ARE THEY NOT RELIGIOUS? IS NOT ASCETICISM A PATH TO GOD? It is just the opposite: it is a path to the madhouse. It is pathological. It is an expression of an ill mind, it is an expression of a violent mind....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 3 The Journey is the Goal Itself 23 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 ONE DAY YOU EMPHASIZE BEING MATURE, ANOTHER DAY YOU SAY “BE LIKE A CHILD.” IF I ADOPT A MATURE ATTITUDE, I FEEL MY CHILD IS REPRESSED AND STARVED FOR EXPRESSION. IF I LET MY CHILD DANCE, SING, THEN ALSO CHILDISH ATTITUDES COME UP, LIKE CLINGING TO A LOVE-OBJECT....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 4 Contrary to Expectation 24 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall A WISE MAN, THE WONDER OF HIS AGE, TAUGHT HIS DISCIPLES FROM A SEEMINGLY INEXHAUSTIBLE STORE OF WISDOM. HE ATTRIBUTED ALL HIS KNOWLEDGE TO A THICK TOME WHICH WAS KEPT IN A PLACE OF HONOR IN HIS ROOM. THE SAGE WOULD ALLOW NOBODY TO OPEN THE VOLUME. WHEN HE DIED, THOSE WHO HAD SURROUNDED HIM, REGARDING THEMSELVES AS HIS HEIRS, RAN TO OPEN THE BOOK, ANXIOUS TO POSSESS WHAT IT CONTAINED....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 5 The Oasis Exists in Your Awareness 25 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 YOU HAVE SAID THAT THE SUFIS ARE ON THE PATH OF LOVE. BUT THEN WHY DO THEY TEACH SO MANY TECHNIQUES? Because of the larvae, the camels. The camels need many methods. They can only trust in a method, they can only trust in technology....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 6 Be Total, Then You Are 26 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 IN LOVE AS WELL AS IN MEDITATION THE MOMENT OF DISSOLVING, DISAPPEAR- ING, IS SO TREMENDOUSLY BEAUTIFUL. IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A MAN WHO IS STILL NOT EGOLESS, NOT ENLIGHTENED, TO ENCOUNTER DEATH CONSCIOUSLY AND TO WELCOMEANDENJOY ITTHESAMEWAY ?Y OUAREEV ERY WHERE.BUTAFTERWEWI It is a significant question, and very urgent too....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 7 The Mad King’s Idol 27 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall THERE WAS ONCE A VIOLENT, IGNORANT AND IDOLATROUS KING. ONE DAY HE SWORE THAT IF HIS PERSONAL IDOL ACCORDED HIM A CERTAIN ADVANTAGE IN LIFE, HE WOULD CAPTURE THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE WHO PASSED BY HIS CASTLE AND FORCE THEM TO DEDICATE THEMSELVES TO IDOL-WORSHIP. SURE ENOUGH, THE KING’S WISHES WERE FULFILLED, AND HE IMMEDIATELY SENT SOLDIERS ON TO THE HIGHWAY TO BRING IN THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE WHOM THEY COULD FIND....

< Previous | Contents | Next > ‌CHAPTER 8 There is no Ladder 28 February 1978 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 EVERY DAY YOU TALK ABOUT THE ‘EARTH’ AND ABOUT THE ‘SKY’ – ABOUT THE POTENTIAL AND ABOUT THE ULTIMATE. BUT WHAT IS THE ‘LADDER’ IN BETWEEN? WHAT IS THE PROCESS THAT HAPPENS IN BETWEEN? WHY DO YOU NOT TALK ABOUT THE ‘LADDER’? The ladder exists not....

< Previous | Contents ‌CHAPTER 9 Experience is the Heart of the Matter 1 March 1978 am in Buddha Hall The first question: Question 1 IF INDIA IS SUCH AN UNSPIRITUAL COUNTRY, WHY ARE SO MANY ENLIGHTENED BEINGS BORN HERE? Spirituality is individual. It has nothing to do with the social, the collective. No society is spiritual, no nation is spiritual. There are spiritual beings – because there is no social soul, the soul manifests through the individual....