Stop having opinions

Don't search for truth, simply stop having opinions

Enlightenment is not an opinion, but a state achieved through the absence of all opinions. It is not an idea, but an awareness of the consciousness that experiences all ideas.
This consciousness is vast and limitless, like a clear blue sky, and ideas are clouds that pass across the sky. When we focus on the clouds, we miss seeing the base that holds them all.

Within

As in the within, so in the without! As your thoughts, as your feelings, so will be your world. What is the point in pointing figures outside and crying? It’s like cleaning the bottle from outside, while it is dirty inside. There is no outside world as such – it’s just the reflection of your inner world. Let the evil within disappear, and see how it evaporates, bit by bit, from the world outside too.
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 2 (August, 2010)

Heaven and hell

The old monk sat by the side of the road. With his eyes closed, his legs crossed and his hands folded in his lap, he sat. In deep meditation, he sat.
Suddenly his zazen was interrupted by the harsh and demanding voice of a samurai warrior. "Old man! Teach me about heaven and hell!"
At first, as though he had not heard, there was no perceptible response from the monk. But gradually he began to open his eyes, the faintest hint of a smile playing around the corners of his mouth as the samurai stood there, waiting impatiently, growing more and more agitated with each passing second.
"You wish to know the secrets of heaven and hell?" replied the monk at last. "You who are so unkempt. You whose hands and feet are covered with dirt. You whose hair is uncombed, whose breath is foul, whose sword is all rusty and neglected. You who are ugly and whose mother dresses you funny. You would ask me of heaven and hell?"
The samurai uttered a vile curse. He drew his sword and raised it high above his head. His face turned to crimson and the veins on his neck stood out in bold relief as he prepared to sever the monk's head from its shoulders.
"That is hell," said the old monk gently, just as the sword began its descent. In that fraction of a second, the samurai was overcome with amazement, awe, compassion and love for this gentle being who had dared to risk his very life to give him such a teaching. He stopped his sword in mid-flight and his eyes filled with grateful tears.
"And at," said the monk, "is heaven."

Effortless

Once Buddha was travelling with a few of his followers. While they were passing a lake, Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty, please get me some water from the lake.” The disciple walked up to the lake. At that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy and turbid.

The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink?” So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake. The disciple went back, and found that the water was still muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back.

This time, the disciple found the mud had settled down, and the water was clean and clear. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water and then he looked up at the disciple and said,” See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be, and the mud settled down on its own – and you have clear water. Your mind is like that too! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time…. it will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.” Having ‘Peace of Mind’ is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process.

Good to man

“If only we can be as good to man as we are to god, no prophet or messiah would ever be required to visit this planet.

In fact, prophets and messiahs became so because they were as good to man, as they were to god.”
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 1 (June, 2010)

Giving and forgiving

Man keeps getting and forgetting and Nature, like the divine, keeps giving and forgiving. We have taken more from society that what we have given. To redeem ourselves from our karmic indebtedness, we should work to leave behind a peaceful world for posterity.
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 1 (June, 2010)

There are no secrets

The secret is ‘There are no secrets’.
Eventually, everybody will know it.

When you have nothing to hide,
you have nothing to avoid.
When you have nothing to avoid,
you have nothing to hide.

Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 10: Issue 1 (June, 2010)