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only way to be benefited by me, the only way to be blessed by me and by my presence, is to gather courage. Come out of your graves! Only your periphery is dead -- you can never be dead. That is the meaning of the story of Lazarus: only the periphery can be dead; you can never be dead. Deep down, life is eternal. Burst forth! Rush out!
This is the whole effort of all the masters: to create a sudden clash of thunder so those who are fast asleep can be awakened.
A SUDDEN CLASH OF THUNDER...
THE MIND-DOORS BURST OPEN,
AND LO! THERE SITTETH THE OLD MAN
IN ALL HIS HOMELINESS.
That old man is what Zen people mean by God. Their term is beautiful: the old man. It is your nature -- ancientmost, eternal nature. It is the old man. Drop the mind! Stop thinking! Become more alert! See the trees and listen to the birds, with no screens of thoughts hindering the path. Meet directly! Truth is immediate, radiant, herenow. It is not that truth has to be discovered -- only you have to become aware. Truth is already here.
Let me shake you, allow me to shake you out of your sleep. Don't go on thinking that you understand. You don't. Your knowledge is a way of ignoring the truth. Drop this ignorance -- and ignorance cannot be dropped by accumulating more knowledge. Ignorance can be dropped only by dropping the knowledge that you have already accumulated.
Knowledge is the barrier to knowing. When knowledge is dropped, knowing flowers.
A Sudden Clash of Thunder
Chapter #2
Chapter title: When you are Not, God is
12 August 1976 am in Buddha Hall
Archive code: 7608120
ShortTitle: THUNDE02
Audio: Yes
Video: No
Length: 89 mins
The first question:
Question 1
I HAVE BEEN THINKING ALL DAY OF A WAY TO ASK THE QUESTION: HOW TO STOP THINKING?
THINKING cannot be stopped. Not that it does not stop, but it cannot be stopped. It stops of its own accord. This distinction has to be understood, otherwise you can go mad chasing your mind.
No-mind does not arise by stopping thinking. When the thinking is no more, no-mind is. The very effort
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