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question and he got so angry. He hit me hard! My cheek is still burning. Is it wrong to ask how to become a Buddha? This man seems to be very cruel and violent!"
And the disciple laughed. He said, "You don't understand his compassion. It is out of his compassion that he has hit you hard. And he is old, ninety years old; just think of his hand -- it will be burning more than your cheek! You are young. Think of his compassion, you fool! Go back!"
But the man asked, "But what is the message in it?"
And the disciple said. "The message is simple. If a Buddha comes and asks how to become a Buddha, what else is there to do? You can hit him and make him aware that you are it What nonsense you are talking about!"
If a rosebush starts trying to become a rosebush, it will go mad. It is ALREADY the rosebush. You may have forgotten. Zen says you are in a state of slumber, you have forgotten who you are, that's all. Nothing has to be done, just a remembrance. That's what Nanak calls SURATI, Kabir calls SURATI -- just a remembrance. You have only to REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE!
So Zen teaches not by words, not by scriptures, not by theories, but by direct pointing, by engaging us in a game in which the only answer is a new level of consciousness.
Listen to this story and you will understand how Zen creates situations. Zen is very psychological. The problem is psychological -- you have simply forgotten; it is not that you have gone anywhere. You have fallen asleep. Zen functions as an alarm. It hits you, hits at the heart, makes you awake. Listen to this beautiful parable:
A young man, who had a bitter disappointment in life, went to a remote monastery and said to the Master, "I am disillusioned with life and wish to attain enlightenment to be freed from these sufferings. But I have no capacity for sticking long at anything. I could never do long years of meditation and study and austerity. I would relapse and be drawn back to the world again, painful though I know it to be. Is there any short way for people like me?"
"There is," said the Master, "if you are really determined. Tell me, what have you studied? What have you concentrated
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