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the story. These small anecdotes are very meaningful, because Zen people say that that which arises in the depth of your being cannot be said, but it can be shown. A situation can be created in which it can be hinted at, words may not be able to tell anything about it, but an alive anecdote can. That is why Zen is so anecdotal. It lives in parables, indicates in parables, and nobody else has been able to create such beautiful parables. There are Sufi stories, there are Hassid stories, and there are many others, but nothing to compare with Zen. Zen has simply got the knack of hitting at the right thing and indicating that which cannot be indicated. And in such a simple way that you can miss it: you will have to search for it, you will have to grope for it, because the anecdote in itself is so simple that you can miss it. It is not very complex, in fact, the mind is not required; rather, an opening of the heart, so that you can understand.
See... this small anecdote tells the whole significance of Zen:
SOMEBODY ASKED THE MASTER, BOKUJU:
WE HAVE TO DRESS AND EAT EVERY DAY -- HOW DO WE GET OUT OF ALL THAT?
Had he asked the same thing to Buddha, the answer would not have been the same. The answer would have come from the seed-mind. Buddha would have said: All is illusory -- eating, dressing, everything is illusory. Become more aware. See the illusoriness and dreaminess of the world. All is MAYA. Become more aware and don't try to find how to get out of it, because how can one get out of a dream? One simply becomes aware and one is out. Have you seen anybody ever getting out of a dream? A dream is unreal, how can you get out of it? The miracle is that you have entered it in the first place -- because it is not there and you entered it! And now you are creating more trouble for yourself asking how to get out of it. The same way as you entered it, get out of it! How did you enter the dream? By believing that it was real. That is the way one enters a dream -- by believing that it is real. So simply drop the belief, and see that it is not real, then you are out of the dream -- by believing that it is real. So simply drop the belief, and see that
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