The Challenge Of The Buddha
Very difficult. We go on unconsciously expressing our opinion about others. Do you know others? You don’t know even yourself. How foolish it is to express opinions about others. You may have known somebody for a few days. You know his name, you know how he walks; you have known him in a few situations – how he acts – but do you know him ? He is a vast continent. You have known only a fragment of it.
It is as if a page torn from the Bible has come in your hands.winds have brought it to you, torn apart.and you read a few sentences. They are also not complete – somewhere one word is missing, somewhere the ink has been washed by the rain water, somewhere mud has settled.and then you decide about Jesus, or you decide about Christianity. It will be foolish.
It is as if you are brought into a movie which is going on. You enter from one door, you look at the movie, and you go out through the other door; just for a few seconds you are inside – and you decide about the whole story. It will be foolish. It will be sheer stupidity on your part. In fact, you will not decide. You will say, “I have not seen the whole movie. I don’t know what went before, what was coming afterwards, and I have only been here in the movie hall for a few seconds; just a few pictures were there, they are almost irrelevant to me – I don’t know the context.”
That’s how we know persons. A life is a tremendously rich phenomenon. One never knows, because only a part of it comes in the actions, only the tip of the iceberg – the real thing remains inside. What you do is a very small tiny part of what you are. What you do is a very small part of what you think, of what you feel, of what you dream, of what you fantasize, of what goes on inside your being.just fragments.
Buddha says, It is difficult not to express an opinion about others – but take the challenge. Resist the temptation. Don’t express your opinions about others and you will grow in understanding. Because your opinion becomes a barrier to understanding; it becomes a prejudice.
It is by rare opportunity that one is introduced to a true spiritual teacher.
In fact, to be introduced to a true spiritual teacher is a very unique phenomenon.
First, nobody is searching truth. Even if a master passes you by, you will remain completely oblivious of his existence. That’s how it happened when Buddha passed. Millions of people remained oblivious. When Jesus passed, people had not even heard his name. He was an unknown figure. When Mahavira was here, very rare souls came in contact with him.
Because you can come in contact with a master only when you are really seeking truth intensely, passionately; when you have mumuksha, a fiery desire to know, and you are ready to stake everything for it.
Excerpted From The Discipline of Transcendence CH: 1
