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houses, hiding. They were afraid that if they saw the moon, then commitment or no commitment, they could not resist. They knew...! They were aware of their weakness and their frailty, so it was better they were lying down quiet in darkness, behind houses. But Gautam Buddha was very much concerned, "What has happened...? Has every dog died?"
Then the moon started rising higher. And for the first time -- because Gautam Buddha was always concerned with teaching the other dogs, he had no time to see to the sky -- he saw the moon. The whole sky fell down. There was such barking -- from every corner dogs came out.
That day he realized that because of his continuous teaching there was no time to bark. And you cannot do both the things together: barking and talking. He was badly ashamed ... fallen from the heights. All the dogs surrounded him and asked, "What happened?"
The story is very significant. If alone you cannot be silent, then while leading a group your silence is just an avoidance of your inner noise.
You are focused on other people's problems, so you yourself become hidden behind. Silence is authentic only when you are alone and no thought arises in you. And in fact, this should be a teaching to you. Be more and more meditative, because this is the only criterion.
If you have attained silence, you have the right to tell others to be silent. If you have solved your problems, then you are capable of helping those who cannot figure out how to get out of the mess they have made their lives.
I have heard about a man who had come to a master asking to be a disciple....
And as masters are very colorful people, unpredictable, the master looked at the disciple and said, "Listen, to be a disciple is very difficult. You will have to meditate, you will have to drop your ego; you will have to do this and that... a long process of discipline."
The man said, "I never thought that to be a disciple is so difficult."
The master said, "I cannot help it; that is the way. From eternity disciples have followed the path. I have only indicated a few spotlights."
The man thought for a moment, looked at the master who
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