A few days back I met GD, Aalif‘s mentor. I kept feeling that I am meeting not him, but the one I call Mauli. He made me aware of the most precious thing Mauli had given me – remembrance I have no recollection of when that happened, but somewhere in the course of me gravitating towards her, there was a moment where I went completely absent. It was a sense of deep interconnectedness like a wide, gushing river so powerful, but unheard. It could only be sensed, watched. It was just that interconnectedness and nothing else.
GD put this in words – consciousness is here through every key being touched on the keyboard, these words reaching your eyes in a space of light – that is where it is….before cognizance, there is consciousness. Before you remember to breathe, it has brought about the breath. And this consciousness is impersonal – there is nobody present in this consciousness. If termed as “It”, It is present, before “I” can even begin. Our mind jumps from one momentum he calls it, to the next. As I grasped this, I felt that “I” is the momentum; a seek to define, is a seek nonetheless – a leap into a future, rooted from the past with no idea about the present moment. If that is the mind – the momentum that is – then being present has nothing to do with the mind anymore. I realized those efforts of bringing the mind to the present moment is stupid. If you are present, it is because you are not in the mind.
And here is consciousness, untouched by whether you are in the present or not. “It” is here already and has nothing to do with you. As you read this, sounds are entering and leaving this space, a soft breeze might be touching your skin. What is this space in which this is happening? Does the body need to be brought “back” in the present moment? What space is it resting in then?
He took me in a meditation where I had to just notice…there was no focus on anything in particular. It was unfocussed because consciousness is everything and everywhere. I became aware of the simultaneity of things – the mosquitoes swarming, the crickets creaking, GD’s face changing, the lights from the other room. It was about being all, at once. And it does feel like arrival. This is me – I reminded myself.
Just reminders he said – reminders that presence is here already. You are that. Without any of your doing the blood is flowing, the organs are churning, the plants are growing. Gentle reminder: You are that. We just need reminders to arrive back and recognize that you are here. These reminders are the surrender to presence…which has nothing to do with you.
Not surprisingly, I came across a link through another link sent to me by a friend which echoed the exact words: http://www.thedeeperlove.com/go_deeper/
And today another story by Osho, echoing the same:
I am reminded of a great mystic, Nagarjuna. He used to live naked, and even kings and queens used to touch his feet. He was absolutely a beggar — he had not even a begging bowl. So while he was visiting the capital the queen presented him with a golden begging bowl studded with diamonds. With tears she asked him not to reject it.
Nagarjuna said, “I will not reject it, I will not hurt your feelings, but it will be very difficult for me to keep it for long — a naked man, and I have to sleep also. Anybody can steal it. I sleep under the sky, I sleep under a tree … It is not going to be with me for long.”
Nagarjuna was watching — “Somebody is following me. Obviously he cannot be following me to these ruins. He must be following for the begging bowl.” Then he saw the thief hiding behind a wall. He threw the begging bowl outside the window and told the man, “Take it. I will not force you to become a thief, I give it to you as a gift.”
Do you see how the buddhas behave? “I will not force you to become a thief because that will be my crime, not your crime. I give it to you as a gift. Just take it and run away.” The man could not run away, could not believe it. He was almost frozen. He had never seen such a man, who can throw a thing worth millions of rupees just as if it is nothing, and he is saving him from being a thief. He is giving it to him as he would give a friend a gift.
Something triggered in the thief’s heart. He said, “Can I come inside and touch your feet and sit by your side just for a few minutes? I have never seen such a man like you.”
Nagarjuna said to him, “That was exactly the purpose of throwing the bowl, to bring you in. Come in, sit down.”
He followed everything. He asked Nagarjuna, “How could you manage to throw such a precious thing? I am a thief, to be honest. I cannot be dishonest to a man like you. And you have been so compassionate that you don’t want me to be a thief, but that is my profession.”
Nagarjuna said, “There is no harm, you continue to be a thief. Just remember one thing, that you are a buddha.”
He said, “My god, I am a thief and you are telling me to remember that I am a buddha!”
Nagarjuna said, “This is enough. You just try, and I am going to stay for two weeks. You can come anytime, day or night, to give me the result, what happens.”
After the third day he was there with the begging bowl, asking Nagarjuna, “Please take it back; otherwise I will be murdered. Now the whole town knows that I have got it. I have been hiding it here and there but it can be protected only by a queen or a king.”
Nagarjuna said, “You leave it here, it is not important. What is important is, what happened to the discipline I had given to you?”
He said, “You have given me a tremendous discipline. I first thought, ‘It is so easy just to remember that I am a buddha.’ But you are very clever, because when I went to steal something, just the remembrance that ‘I am a buddha’ and I would get frozen, my hands would not move to take anything. For three days I have not stolen a single thing. This is unprecedented in my life. And I don’t think that again I will be able to steal. This is a dangerous thing you have said to me, because the moment I find an opportunity to steal something, the remembrance that I am a buddha … I simply relax, I escape — it is not right for a buddha. I cannot let you down or let the buddha down.”
Nagarjuna said, “That is your problem. But take this begging bowl because somebody will take it, and it does not matter who takes it.”
He said, “Forget all about it. Just as you remember, I also remember: I am a buddha.”
The very remembrance of who you are is going to transform your whole life. You cannot do anything against your consciousness. You have been doing it because you have been unaware. The only secret is to achieve a recognition that inside you there is a witnessing self. The name of the witnessing self is the buddha. In every act, in every word, just remember your inner being — its blissfulness, its silence, its grandeur, its eternity – and you cannot be the same man.
This is called the transmission of the lamp. It happens in the intimacy of the master and the disciple. Nothing is said but something is understood. The very energy of the master, the very presence simply penetrates you and awakens you, brings you out of your dreams and your sleep. That is the meaning of the word ‘buddha’: one who is awake.
-OSHO
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Reblogged this on superaalifragilistic.
feeling more space around after reading this.
love the pic..grey statues with the orange scarf.
🙂 thanks Manjiri…
love.
Osho tells a beautiful story.
Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much Paula for taking the time out to read and for subscribing.
Much love.
Beautiful story. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you dear Anita for commenting. It is really encouraging to have people come here and hit a Like button or leave a comment! Grateful you resonated…it made me re-read the post 🙂 Love