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| | | Book Name: The Dhammapada - The Way of the Buddha, Vol 10 | Previous Next | |
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and then enter into the church. And who is going to decide when the man is pure enough? That will be up to the priest and he can always go on saying, "You are not pure enough yet."
The Negro went back. He was really in a deep love affair with God; he cried and wept, and he tried in every possible way not to do anything wrong, to avoid anything that may make him impure. For three weeks he remained in isolation, fasting, praying. And after three weeks God appeared to him: his desire was fulfilled.
After that experience he went to the church. The priest was very much afraid -- this man was coming again, and he had such a beautiful aura around him that the priest was very much afraid to say, "You are not pure yet." His purity was shining; it was like a sun rising on the horizon. It was so clearly there that to deny it would be a sin, and the priest was afraid.
The man came very close to the door, just near the steps, stood there, laughed loudly, turned back and went home. The priest was very much puzzled why he did this. He ran after him, got hold of him and said, "Why did you do this? Don't you want to come in the church?"
He said, "No, I don't want to come in the church. I had just come to see you and the church once more, because last night God appeared and I asked him -- when he himself was there I asked him, 'Can I enter into the church? Am I pure enough now?' God said, 'You are pure, more pure than anybody else who goes into the church, more pure than the priest himself. But please, don't go into the church. They won't allow you in. I know it from my own experience because for years I have been trying to go into that church and they don't allow me. If they don't allow ME into the church, how can they allow you? You drop the whole idea. I have dropped it myself!'"
Your churches, your temples are empty. They are graves of religion. Religion no more flowers there. Yes, when a Jesus is alive there is a great flowering, when Buddha is alive there is a great flowering, but not in a Buddhist temple, not in a Christian church.
Priests are the people who take advantage of the awakened ones. Once the awakened person goes, leaves
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