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Main Index
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| | | Book Name: The Dhammapada - The Way of the Buddha, Vol 5 | Previous Next | |
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a buddha; they traveled thousands of miles just in search of a master. Not that they were not aware of many knowledgeable people who knew all about the Vedas and the Upanishads and the Gitas and the Korans and the Bibles; they knew about the scholars, but they had a clear-cut distinction between one who knows on his own authority and one who knows on the authority of the scripture. They never followed the man who had no authentic experience of his own, who had not encountered his self, who was not a flame. And it takes time to search.
You will come across hundreds of masters; ninety-nine point nine percent will be pseudo, false coins. But the only way to seek and search is to go on seeking and searching and whenever you come across a pseudo master, watch! Is what he is saying wisdom or knowledge? Is what he is saying his own or is it within quotes? And it is not very difficult; just a little patience is needed and you will know the pseudo as pseudo.
Harold started hitchhiking and in just a few moments he was picked up by Eleanor, a luscious-looking librarian.
"Would you like a cigarette?" he asked.
"No, thanks," she replied. "I don't smoke!"
They rode in silence for a short time and Harold said, "I know a nice bar up the road here; would you like to stop and have a drink?"
"Thank you, no," said Eleanor. "I don't drink!"
Ten minutes later, Harold took a wild shot and said, "Why don't we stop at the next motel and make love?"
She said, "Alright!"
They stopped, made it like mad for two solid hours, and then were back driving in her car.
"Say, I'm curious," said Harold. "When I asked you to have a smoke, you said no. When I offered to buy you a drink, you turned me down. Yet you went to the motel with me. How come?"
"Well," said the librarian, "I always practice what I preach. I tell my Sunday school that you don't have to smoke or drink to have a good time!"
You will come across such preachers everywhere who practice what they preach, but what they preach is not their own experience; what they preach is all borrowed. It may look like wisdom but it is not. And you cannot avoid it. You
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