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)

Act Before Its Late

Zazen Wasan

From the beginning, all beings are Buddha;
Like water and ice, without water no ice,
Outside us, no Buddhas.
How near the Truth, yet how far we seek!
Like one in water crying, "I thirst",
Like the son of a rich man
Wandering poor on this earth,
We endlessly circle the Six Worlds.
From dark path to dark path
We've wandered in darkness.
How can we be free from the wheel of Samsara?

The Perfection of freedom is Zazen-Samadhi,
Beyond exaltation, beyond all our praises,
The pure Mahayana.
Observing the precepts, repentance and giving,
The countless good deeds, and the Way of Right Living,
All flow from this Zen.
Even one meditation extinguishes evil;
It purifies karma, dissolving obstruction.
Then where are the dark paths to lead us astray?
The Pure Lotus Land is not far away.
Hearing this Truth, heart humble and grateful,
To praise and embrace it, to practice its wisdom,
Brings unending blessings, brings mountains of merit.

But if we turn directly, and prove our True Nature,
That true Self is no-self,
Our own Self is no-self,
We stand beyond ego and past clever words.
Then the gate to the oneness of cause-and-effect is thrown open:
Not two, and not three,
Straight ahead runs the Way.
Now our form is no-form,
So in coming and going we never leave home.
Now our thought is no-thought,
So our dancing and songs are the voice of the Dharma.
How bright and transparent the moonlight of Wisdom!
What is there outside us, what is there we lack?
Nirvana is openly shown to our eyes.
This earth where we stand is the Pure Lotus Land,
And this very body, the body of Buddha!
('Zazen Wasan' - Song of Zazen by Hakuin)

They pay for their conduct

“Kabira Teri Jhompri Gal Katiyan Ke Paas
Jo Karenge So Bharenge Tu Kyon Bhayo Udaas” ~ Kabir

O Kabir! Your hut is next to the butcher’s bay
Why do you feel down? For their conduct they only shall pay

Nirvana is right here

“At this moment, is there anything lacking? Nirvana is right here now before our eyes. This place is the lotus land. This body now is the Buddha.” ~ Hakuin

Right time

“Dheere Dheere Re Mana, Dheere Sub Kutch Hoye
Mali Seenche So Ghara, Ritu Aaye Phal Hoye” ~ Kabir

Slowly, slowly O mind, everything happens in own pace
Gardner may water a hundred buckets; fruit comes only in its season

Karma

What happens to you is not in your control. Accept it. However, how you are going to respond to what is happening to you is absolutely in your control. Take responsibility for it. Your present is created by your past karma. How are you respond to your present will cause the Karma from which your future will come.
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 9: Issue 11 (May 2010)

Suffering

Suffering is caused when you mind wants life to go in a particular direction, but your life goes in a different one altogether. You try to define life, but life defines all definitions that you confine it to. Suffering is caused when you resist ‘What Is’.
Excerpted from ‘Frozen Thoughts’ Vol. 9: Issue 11 (May 2010)

A religious man

A religious man is an organic unity, in balance. His head, his hands, his feet, his body, his mind, his souls, all are in deep harmony, in a deep rhythm. He is an orchestra.
Excerpted from the books of Osho

You got to believe

Questioning

"One of the important things in life is not to stop questioning. The moment one stops questioning, search ceases." ~ Vaibhav

A journey within

Religion and Fear

Religion has survived up to now because of your fear and greed. Of course I mean false religion. True religion has nothing to do with fear and greed. In fact, true religion means transcending fear and greed.

We call religious persons “god-fearing”. Fear has nothing to do with religion at all; fear is anti-religious. Love is religion. Authentic religious person will make you unafraid, fearless; not a slave, not a puppet in the hands of some unknown god, some fiction.

Excerpted from books of Osho

Peace emanates from soul

"Peace emanates from the soul, and is the sacred inner environment in which true happiness unfolds." ~ Paramahansa Yogananda

Life...

There is no saturation in life…
only saturated minds.
There is no stagnation in life…
only stagnant people.

Life is a mere open parenthesis…
fill as much as you want…
there is no close parenthesis.

There us as much room
as your heart can conceive…
as much room
as your mind can believe…
as much room
as your attitude towards life.

The only word that can befit life is ‘More’.
Excerpted from ‘Unposted Letter’ by T.T. Ranga Rajan

Understanding comes with love

"Great understanding comes with great love. "
Wisdom and compassion are inseparable qualities of our true nature. To be wise is to love and to love is to be wise.
Wisdom is the quality of mind that sees beyond the limits of the ego-self and knows the ultimate connectedness of life. Love is the quality of heart that unites us with others and all of life, and frees us from our separateness.
The path to enlightenment is opening the mind to wisdom and the heart to compassion and love.