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Main Index
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| | | Book Name: The Dhammapada - The Way of the Buddha, Vol 2 | Previous Next | |
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and the same spokes go on coming on top again and again.
Yes, there are circumstances outside, but they are not causes; at the most they trigger. A certain mood that is bound to happen is triggered by a certain circumstance. If this circumstance were not there, then something else would have been the triggering point -- but it was bound to be triggered.
People who have lived in isolation have become aware of this fact. Buddha used to send his disciples for isolation. In the new commune we are going to have underground caves so I can send you for one month's isolation -- absolute isolation. You disappear from the world, so you cannot blame any circumstances outside because there is nothing outside...you and the walls of the cave. And you will be surprised: one day you are happy, one day you are unhappy, one day you are feeling very greedy, one day you are feeling angry and there is nobody who has insulted you, irritated you. One day you will find you are telling lies to yourself because you cannot find anybody else.
"Could I buy you a drink?" he asked, by way of striking up a conversation.
"No thank you," she said. "I don't drink."
"What about a little dinner with me in my room?"
"No, I don't think that would be proper," she said.
Having had no success with the subtler approaches, the young man pressed directly to the point: "I am charmed by your refreshing beauty, mademoiselle, and will give you anything your heart desires if you will spend the night with me."
"Oh, no, no, monsieur, I could never do a thing like that."
"Tell me," the young man said, laughing, "don't you ever do anything the slightest bit improper?"
"Oui," said the French girl, "I tell lies."
You watch how many times in the day you tell lies -- and for no reason at all -- and how many times you become angry, for no reason at all, and then you will see that you are living in an inner world, a subjective world of your own. Understanding means understanding these fundamentals of life's functioning. And if you understand these fundamentals, transformation is not difficult. In fact, understanding itself becomes the transformation.
HOW
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