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wrote:
IN MY HOUSE THERE IS A CAVE,
AND IN THE CAVE IS NOTHING AT ALL --
PURE AND WONDERFULLY EMPTY,
RESPLENDENT, WITH A LIGHT
LIKE THE SUN.
A MEAL OF GREENS WILL DO
FOR THIS OLD BODY,
A RAGGED COAT WILL COVER
THIS PHANTOM FORM.
LET A THOUSAND SAINTS APPEAR
BEFORE ME -- I HAVE THE
BUDDHA OF HEAVENLY TRUTH!
Once you have looked into your inner cave and found the light, the life, the very source of your being, then the so-called saints don't mean anything. They are just moralists, following a certain system of morality, beliefs, but they don't have the truth. If you have the truth then even a thousand saints cannot weigh more than your buddha. Your buddha is the ultimate and it is not borrowed. You have discovered it.
Question 1
Maneesha has asked:
OUR BELOVED MASTER,
I LOVE THE EXPRESSION, "TAKE ONE STEP TOWARDS ALLAH, AND HE WILL COME RUNNING A THOUSAND STEPS TOWARDS YOU."
IT SEEMS TO SUGGEST THAT RECEPTIVITY IS NOT A TOTALLY INACTIVE WAITING BUT REQUIRES A CERTAIN PARTICIPATION.
EVEN TO RECEIVE A FLOWER, DOESN'T ONE NEED TO HOLD OUT ONE'S HAND? OR AM I ON THE WRONG TRACK AGAIN?
Yes, Maneesha, you are on a wrong track again. That saying comes from Mohammedanism, "Take one step towards Allah, and he will come running a thousand steps toward you."
But in the world of Zen there is no Allah, and as far as your inside is concerned, just take one step and you are the Allah. Nobody comes running. On the contrary, you come to a standstill. Just one step, inside -- that Mohammedan saying is still about the outside God -- you take one step and God will come running towards you. But that kind of God does not exist, so don't unnecessarily waste your step! Save it, you will need it to go in. And the moment you go one step in, you are the Allah. In the world of Zen that kind of statement is not applicable at all.
Now the clouds have come, really with tremendous urgency! This year Poona is going to be flooded even without the Shankaracharya committing suicide. Just the laughter of ten thousand buddhas is enough to call all the
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