Junnaid ( Part II )

"Secondly," he said, "I lost my way in a forest and by the time I reached the nearest village that I could find, it was midnight. Everybody was fast asleep. I wandered all over the town to see if I could find somebody awake to give me shelter for the night, until finally I found one man. I asked him, 'It seems only two persons are awake in the town, you and I. Can you give me shelter for the night?' "The man said, 'I can see from your gown that you are a Sufi monk....'" The word Sufi comes from suf; suf means wool, a woolen garment. The Sufis have used the woolen garment for centuries; hence they are called Sufis because of their garment. The man said, "I can see you are a Sufi and I feel a little embarrassed to take you to my home. I am perfectly willing, but I must tell you who I am. I am a thief--would you like to be a guest of a thief?" For a moment Junnaid hesitated. The thief said, "Look, it is better I told you. You seem hesitant. The thief is willing but the mystic seems to be hesitant to enter into the house of a thief, as if the mystic is weaker than the thief. In fact, I should be afraid of you--you may change me, you may transform my whole life! Inviting you means danger, but I am not afraid. You are welcome. Come to my home. Eat, drink, go to sleep, and stay as long as you want, because I live alone and my earning is enough. I can manage for two persons. And it will be really beautiful to chit-chat with you of great things. But you seem to be hesitant." And Junnaid became aware that it was true. He asked to be forgiven. He touched the feet of the thief and he said, "Yes, my rootedness in my own being is yet very weak. You are really a strong man and I would like to come to your home. And I would like to stay a little longer, not only for this night. I want to be stronger myself!" The thief said, "Come on!" He fed the Sufi, gave him something to drink, helped him to prepare for sleep and he said, "Now I will go. I have to do my own thing. I will come back early in the morning." Early in the morning the thief came back. Junnaid asked, "Have you been successful?" The thief said, "No, not today, but I will see tomorrow." And this happened continuously, for thirty days: every night the thief went out, and every morning he came back empty-handed. But he was never sad, never frustrated--no sign of failure on his face, always happy --and he would say, "It doesn't matter. I tried my best. I could not find anything today again, but tomorrow I will try. And, God willing, it can happen tomorrow if it has not happened today." After one month Junnaid left, and for years he tried to realize the ultimate, and it was always a failure. But each time he decided to drop the whole project he remembered the thief, his smiling face and his saying "God willing, what has not happened today may happen tomorrow." Junnaid said, "I remembered the thief as one of my greatest Masters. Without him I would not be what I am.

Junnaid ( Part I )

One of the great Sufi Masters, Junnaid, was asked when he was dying... his chief disciple came close to him and asked, "Master, you are leaving us. One question has always been in our minds but we could never gather courage enough to ask you. Who was your Master? This has been a great curiosity among your disciples because we have never heard you talk about your Master." Junnaid opened his eyes and said, "It will be very difficult for me to answer because I have learned from almost everybody. The whole existence has been my Master. I have learned from every event that has happened in my life. And I am grateful to all that has happened, because out of all that learning I have arrived." Junnaid said, "Just to satisfy your curiosity I will give you three instances.

One: I was very thirsty and I was going towards the river carrying my begging bowl, the only possession I had. When I reached the river a dog rushed, jumped into the river, started drinking. "I watched for a moment and threw away my begging bowl--because it is useless. A dog can do without it. I also jumped into the river, drank as much water as I wanted. My whole body was cool because I had jumped into the river. I sat in the river for a few moments, thanked the dog, touched his feet with deep reverence because he had taught me a lesson. "I had dropped everything, all possessions, but there was a certain clinging to my begging bowl. It was a beautiful bowl, very beautifully carved, and I was always aware that somebody might steal it. Even in the night I used to put it under my head as a pillow so nobody could snatch it away. That was my last clinging--the dog helped. It was so clear: if a dog can manage without a begging bowl... I am a man, why can't I manage? That dog was one of my Masters.-osho

A ZEN STORY , NAN-IN

A Zen story. A very curious king, wanting to know about what these people go on doing in the monasteries,asked, "who is the most famous Master?" Finding out that the most famous Master of those days was Nan-In, he went to his monastery. when he entered the monastery he found a wood cutter. he asked him," The monastery is big, where I can find Master Nan-in?"
The Man thought with closed eyes for a moments, and he said " right now you cannot find him"The king said " why can't I find him right now ? Do you understand that I am the ermperor ?

he said " that is irrelevent whoever you are , that is your business, but I assure you you cannot find him right now."" Is he out ? asked the king."No, He is in" replied the woodcutter, the king said " is he involved in some work? , some ceremoney or in isolation? what is the matter?" The man said , " he is right now cutting wood in front of you and when I am cutting wood, I am just a wood cutter. Right now where is master Nan-in? I am just a wood cutter. you will have to wait "
The emperor thought " this man is mad , simply mad Master Nan-In cutting wood ? he went ahead , and left the woodcutter behind. Nan-In again continued to cut wood the winter was coming close , the wood had to be storeed. the emperor could wait , but winter would't wait.
The emperor waited one hour , two hours-- and then from the back door came master Nan-In in his master' robe. the king looked at him He lookes like the woodcutter, the king bowed down, the master sat there " why have you taken so much trouble to come here ? "The king said " there are many questions I will ask latter on , First. I want to know are you the same man who was cutting wood?"
He said, " Now I am Master Nan-In. I am not the same man; the total configration has changed.Now here I am sitting as Master Nan-in. You ask as a disicple, with humbleness, receptivity.Yes, a man very,very similar to me was cutting wood there, but that was a woodcutter. His name is also Nan-In"
The King got so puzzled that he left without asking the questions he had come to ask.when he went back to his court, his advisers asked what happened . He said " what happened it is better to forget about This master Nan-in seems to be absolutly insane! He was cutting wood, he said, I am a wood cutter and master nan-in is not available right now ' then the same man came in a master's robe and I asked him , and he said, a similar man was cutting the wood , but he was the woodcutter, I am the Master.'"
One of the men in the court said " you have missed the point of what he was trying to say to you-- that when cutting wood he is totally involved in it. Nothing is left which can claim to be Master Nan-In; Nothing is left out , He is just a wood cutter "

And in Zen languages, which is difficult to translate , he was saying that " I am a woodcutter, " He was saying, " Right now it is wood cutting not a woodcutter-because there is not even space for the cutter" it is simply wood being chopped, and he is so totally in it, It is only wood cutting; wood cutting is happening. And when he comes as a Master, it is a different configuration. the same parts are now in a different accord.so with each action you are a different person, if you get totally involved in it.

-OSHO

Book : From Ignorance to innocence Chapter # 23

a king and his old sons

waiting for the flying horse

There is a great old Chinese story. A king was very angry with his prime minister. He had done something or other, so the king ordered him to be sentenced to death, It was the tradition that if somebody was to be executed by the king’s order, the king had to visit him one day before, to ask if he had some desire to be fulfilled And this man was no ordinary man- he had served the king for many years as his prime minister, he had been an intimate. But something went wrong, he does something and the king was angry so the next morning ha was to be executed, hanged. The king came to see him twenty four hours before.

The prime minister was a brave man. He had been to many wars as a general. When the king came the prime minister started weeping and crying – tears rolling down. The king said “I would never have imagined that you, a man of such bravery, would be crying because you are going to be hanged tomorrow. Are you afraid of death? “

The prime minister said,’That is not the point, death, I have never afraid of, it is something else but leave it aside, now there is no time to do it’.

The king became curious, he said ,” What is the matter?, You tell me I am here to fulfill your last desire, I promise you to fulfill it, you tell me you have served the kingdom long and I would like to fulfill it whatsoever it is , you just tell me”.

The prime minister said, if you insist, then I will tell you this is a long story when I was young I was with a great master, he was an enlightened being, and he had many secrets with him. One secret I learnt. And that secret was that there is a rare type of horse which can be taught to fly, and my whole life I have been searching for that type of horse that can be taught to fly, but I couldn’t find one – and look at the irony of fate, the horse that you have come on is the right horse, and tomorrow morning I will be dead and the whole science will go dead with me . The secret will be lost to humanity – that is why I am crying.

The king said,” The horse can fly ? How much time will you take to teach it ?”- because the king became interested. If this horse can fly in the sky this will be something superb, incomparable, that is no other king in the world can claim. He said “You forget about your sentence, you tell me how much time you will take? “.

The man said, it will take one year. The king said, Okay, there is no harm in it. For one year you try. If the horse flies, then not only will you not be hanged, but you will get married to my daughter and you will share my kingdom; half-half, but if the horse cannot fly, then you will be executed. So there is no harm in it, you come out—take the horse.

The man took the horse, went home—there his wife and children were crying and weeping because this was the last day, the next day morning the husband, the father, would be dead. They could not believe their eyes—that he was coming back riding on a horse. They thought they must be dreaming. They wiped their eyes an they asked; what is the matter? How could you manage to come?

He told the whole story. The wife again started crying and said, you are a fool, because I know very well you don’t know anything like that. You invented a lie. If you were going to lie why say one year? You should have asked fifty years, twenty years at least! The one year will pass soon, and this will be a nightmare, because the whole year will be trembling, because soon again you have to die.

The man said, don’t be afraid, one year is too long ! The king can die, I can die, at least the horse can die- you don’t be worried! don’t you be worried , one year is a long enough.

Book : Tao : The Three treasures vol -3 , Chapter 7

( Note : still such ministers exist , only difference is the king has become poor people and they wait for five years to see their horses fly )

who can become ganthi osho on rajiv - part 1

Rajiv Gandhi is not hindu , but nobody has said it, I have to say it Rajiv Gandhi is a cross breed, .His father , Feroze Gandhi, was a parsee; and his mother, indira Gandhi was a Hindu, But the name – Gandhi- gives the feeling as if he is hindu, because Mahatma Gandhi was hindu. So people think… And Parsees are not known very much; they are confined to Bombay, and a few people in Poona, a few people in Surat—just this small territory. Basically they are confined to Bombay, so all over most of India nobody knows about them , that they also have a surname , Gandhi .
the word Gandhi comes not from caste or religion, it means a man who sells perfumes, Gandh means perfume, and Gandhi means perfume seller. So anybody who sells perfumes becomes “Gandhi “ It has nothing to do with religion, it has nothing to do with caste

Feroze Gandhi’s family, sometimes in the past must have been selling perfume. And that was also true of mahatma Gandhi’s parents or forefathers. Somewhere back they must have been selling perfume; both are called “ Gandhis”

This word ‘Gandhi’ gives the impression to the whole of India that Rajiv is a Hindu .He is not. Rajiv is half hindu and half parsee.

Book : Communism and Zen fire Chapter 6 wolves in a sheep’s skin

heart meditation

Try this method from Atisha: When you breathe in--listen carefully, it is one of the greatest methods--when you breathe in, think that you are breathing in all the miseries of all the people in the world. All the darkness, all the negativity, all the hell that exists anywhere, you are breathing it in. And let it be absorbed in your heart. You may have read or heard about the so-called positive thinkers of the West. They say just the opposite--they don't know what they are saying. They say, "When you breathe out, throw out all your misery and negativity; and when you breathe in, breathe in joy, positivity, happiness, cheerfulness." Atisha's method is just the opposite: when you breathe in, breathe in all the misery and suffering of all the beings of the world--past, present and future. And when you breathe out, breathe out all the joy that you have, all the blissfulness that you have, all the benediction that you have. Breathe out, pour yourself into existence. This is the method of compassion: drink in all the suffering and pour out all the blessings. And you will be surprised if you do it. The moment you take all the sufferings of the world inside you, they are no longer sufferings. The heart immediately transforms the energy. The heart is a transforming force: drink in misery, and it is transformed into blissfulness... then pour it out. Once you have learned that your heart can do this magic, this miracle, you would like to do it again and again. Try it. It is one of the most practical methods--simple, and it brings immediate results. Do it today, and see. That is one of the approaches of Buddha and all his disciples. Atisha is one of his disciples, in the same tradition, in the same line. Buddha says again and again to his disciples, "Ihi passiko--come and see!" They are very scientific people. Buddhism is the most scientific religion on the earth; hence, Buddhism is gaining more and more ground in the world every day. As the world becomes more intelligent, Buddha will become more and more important. It is bound to be so. As more and more people come to know about science, Buddha will have great appeal. He will convince the scientific mind--because he says, "Whatsoever I am saying can be practiced. I don't say to you, 'Believe it,' I say, 'Experiment with it, experience it, and only then if you feel it yourself, trust it. Otherwise there is no need to believe.'" Try this beautiful method of compassion: take in all the misery and pour out all the joy