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Main Index
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| | | Book Name: The Dhammapada - The Way of the Buddha, Vol 11 | Previous Next | |
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a shortcut. Belief is a shortcut; experience is not a shortcut.
Just a few days ago my samurai-in-chief, Shiva, had a fall from a wall. Now, a samurai is not supposed to be a Humpty-Dumpty! So I inquired, "What happened?" I came to know that he was trying to find a shortcut from one house to another house by crossing the wall. And the shortcut turned out to be a long cut -- he had twelve stitches!
Avoid shortcuts; shortcuts don't help. There are no shortcuts in life. Life has to be lived in all its totality. A shortcut means you are avoiding a few things. You are jumping to the conclusion, avoiding the process, avoiding a few steps. You may reach the conclusion, but it will not be your conclusion. And if it is not your conclusion it is of no value, it is borrowed. You are like a parrot. Even a parrot can be very knowledgeable, but that does not make him a buddha.
Rastus, the hot, black Harlem stud, decided that he needed an exotic parrot for his classy apartment.
After searching for some time, he finally found a pet shop that sold talking parrots. The shopkeeper showed him one for twenty-five dollars.
"Polly wanna cracker?" inquired Rastus, to which the parrot did not respond. "This parrot doesn't talk," said Rastus, "I wants me a talking parrot. Do you have any others?"
The owner said there was one for seventy-five dollars. He brought out a cage from behind the counter and uncovered a most attractive bird.
"Polly wanna cracker?" asked Rastus again, and again there was no response. "This parrot don't talk!" shouted Rastus with annoyance. "Don't you have any birds that talk?"
The shopkeeper told him that he did keep another one in the back room, but that it was quite expensive -- two hundred and fifty dollars.
He brought out the most beautiful bird Rastus had ever seen, and he excitedly asked, "Polly wanna cracker?" There was no response. Rastus was outraged. "Do you or don't you have any talking birds?" he asked.
The shopkeeper hesitated and then replied that he did have one bird that was quite exceptional, and although he had not planned to sell it, for two thousand dollars he would consider
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