#voxcel

In England, a student was taking an oral examination in a medical college. He had passed all the other subjects, the oral exam was the last. If he passes this he will receive England’s highest degree in medicine. Three doctors were examining him. They asked him, ”If you have such and such a patient with such and such a disease and you are to give these medicines, what amount will you give?” He quickly said the amount. All three doctors laughed. They said, ”Okay, you can go. The exam is over.” He was just going out the door when it came to him, ”That amount would take his life, it is poison.” He returned and said, ”Pardon me, I would give him half of what I had said.” But the doctors said, ”The patient has died, who are you coming back to tell? What’s said is said. This is not merely an exam. If there were a patient and you gave him this dosage the patient would have died, who’s pardon are you asking? Come next year, prepare yourself better. You cannot just come back and correct your statement like this. If we change it, it would be false, the patient has already died.” Don’t speak thoughtlessly – giving it this meaning does not mean to speak thoughtfully. In my vision its meaning is no-thought. Where there is thought there will be error. Where there is no thought, the mind is completely quiet, like a mirror, silent, empty, where meditation has awakened – there is never any mistake. There is no need to turn and look back. There is never any repentance. Speaking attentively, what Buddha called right remembering. Speaking wakefully. Speaking alertly. Not after thinking: is there an opportunity for thinking, is there time or not? Where is there time in life? Many times you want to say good things but can’t say them, later you remember. The great Western thinker Victor Hugo was coming out of a sitting room. Three or four other writers were coming with him, conversing. One writer expressed something. It was such a lovely statement that from Victor Hugo’s mouth came out, ”If only I had said that!” A third writer said, ”Hugo, don’t worry. You will say it. Some day or other you will say it. If not today you’ll say it tomorrow. It will come out of your mouth, don’t worry. You will say it in other circumstances, but you will certainly say it. You cannot leave it alone.”

One day he was passing through a village. On his shoulders he always carried a very big bag full of many toys, chocolates and sweets for children.

Somebody asked him, ”Hotei, we have heard that you are just playing a role, acting. We have heard that you are a Zen master, so why do you go on wasting your time just giving toys to children? And if you are really a Zen master then show us what Zen is.” Zen means the real spirit of religion.

Hotei dropped his bag, immediately he dropped his bag. They couldn’t follow, so they said, ”What do you mean?” He said, ”This is all. If you drop the burden, this is all.”

They asked, ”Okay, then what is the next step?” So he put his bag again on his shoulders and started walking.

One day, I decided to quit. I wanted to quit my job, to quit my relationships, to quit my marriage, to quit my spirituality; I even wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. "God," I said, "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me. "Look around," He said, "do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes," I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth.  Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo." "In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo."

"In the third year there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit."

"In the fourth year, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. Still, I would not quit."

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant. But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years growing roots.

Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge they could not handle," He said to me.

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots? I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you! Don't compare yourself to others.  The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful. Your  time will come," God said to me. "You will rise high."

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?", He asked in return.

"As high as it can?", I questioned.

A Japanese Emperor reached the Zen Master and asked him, “What is hell and what is heaven?” The Zen Master looked at the Emperor and said “You son-of-a-bitch! Have you looked at your face in the mirror lately? I have never seen such a dirty-looking fellow before!” The Emperor was enraged! He had not expected such a thing from such a great saint. You don’t know great saints! You know only small, puny saints. A real saint is not a cat, he is a tiger! The Emperor was so enraged that he pulled his sword out of its sheath. He was going to cut the head of the Master. Just as the sword was coming closer, the Master said, “Wait! You are entering hell. This is the gate to hell.” The way the Master said “Wait!” was so powerful that the Emperor’s hand was stopped in the middle, and he understood — “True!” He threw the sword away, fell at the feet of the Master, and the Master laughed and said, “This is the way to heaven! You have already experienced both within a single moment. The distance is not far.”

Once a sparrow was in search of a shelter to build her nest and lay eggs. She came across two trees. She went and asked the first tree but it refused to give shelter. The bird insisted that she had come far from the south and needed to lay eggs. If she doesn't find a suitable place, her children will get in trouble. She pleaded with the tree many times but the tree would refuse her always.

Finally, the sparrow became angry, "You have disrespected nature and a helpless mother. You shall meet your end painfully."

The sparrow then went to the second tree and it agreed. She built her nest and laid her eggs. After a month, the rainy season arrived.

The rains were so heavy that the first tree that had refused shelter fell and was taken away in floods. The bird saw this and taunted the tree, "This is your karma as you refused to give me shelter."

There was a great lover of Krishna. He had almost become absolutely absent as far as he himself was concerned. He had opened all his doors for Krishna to come in. Krishna for him was the name of the cosmos. There is no problem, you can call the cosmos by any name, just don’t get into a misunderstanding. By naming it Krishna, you may start thinking it has a personality, that it is an individual. But the man was not at all confused about it. His name for the cosmos was Krishna.

The meaning of Krishna is the Black One. Hence, the cosmos represents it, too.

His old mother was almost dying and he was massaging her feet. It was a cold night. The story is beautiful. Seeing that his devotee was serving his mother so totally – he has forgotten to eat, to drink – Krishna came to help. He stood behind him, but the man was so absorbed in massaging the feet of his mother, he did not look behind him, although he had heard somebody's footsteps.

Krishna had to declare himself: ”I have come to help you!”

He said, ”I am enough to serve my mother.” Though he knew Lord Krishna had come to see him, he refused to pay his respect to the god before his duty towards his parents was done. But he did not look at Krishna. There was a brick lying by his side. He just threw the brick behind him, without looking up, and said to Krishna, ”Sit down on the brick till I am finished.” Because he told Krishna, ”Sit down on the brick,” in Maharashtra, Krishna is called Vitthal. Vitthal means ”Sit down!” – and they have a beautiful temple in which a brick is preserved, and Krishna is sitting on the brick.

“There is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse. The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man on the horse is going somewhere important. Another man, standing alongside the road, shouts, "Where are you going?" and the first man replies, “I don't know! Ask the horse!"

This is also our story. We are riding a horse, we don't know where we are going, and we can't stop. The horse is our habit energy pulling us along, and we are powerless. We are always running, and it has become a habit. We struggle all the time, even during our sleep. We are at war within ourselves, and we easily start a war with others.”