| |
space. And you should understand the difference between place and space.
You are sitting here. The place you are sitting in is one thing and the space that you are within is another. It is nothing material, so there is no question of falling. There is no fear of falling into a ditch. There is no place of any kind, just pure silence and spaciousness. Where there is no place to step, that is the real place from where to begin the journey.
Howsoever absurd, he has said a great truth.
GO A HUNDRED THOUSAND STEPS FURTHER --
ONLY THEN WILL YOU BE ABLE TO WALK ALONE
IN THE RED SKIES, PERVADING THE UNIVERSE
AS YOUR WHOLE BODY.
THE NUN AGREED AND DAIO CONTINUED: "THAT'S ALL. NOW YOU WANT TO RETURN TO YOUR OLD CAPITAL AND HAVE COME WITH INCENSE IN YOUR SLEEVE TO ASK FOR A SAYING. I ONCE MADE A VERSE OF PRAISE ON THE MASTER OF IKUSAN, SO I WILL WRITE THAT:
`ATOP THE POLE, WALK ON BY THE ORDINARY ROUTE. IT IS MOST PAINFUL, WHEN TAKING A TUMBLE IN A VALLEY. EARTH, MOUNTAINS, AND RIVERS CANNOT HOLD YOU UP, AND SPACE SUPPRESSES LAUGHTER, FILLING A DONKEY'S CHEEKS.'"
Once you have taken the jump into the inner space, everything is easy. Before taking the jump everything is difficult. You have never thought that you have any interiority, you have never thought that there is any space inside.
When I say "your interiority" I don't mean your bones and your heart and your brain. These are all outside coverings of your inside nothingness. When you detach yourself from your body and mind and heart, you find that place from where the journey begins. That is the true pilgrimage, the only pilgrimage that is of any worth. All others are unnecessarily running here and there, not knowing where they are going.
I have heard.... Once George Bernard Shaw was caught in a railway train without a ticket. He had purchased a ticket, but where had he put it? He had much luggage. He must have been like Avirbhava -- she travels with twelve suitcases! So he looked into this suitcase, into that suitcase. The whole compartment was filled with his clothes and things and books, and the ticket collector finally said in desperation,
|
|
|