VBT – Meditation 17.4
Remain In The Middle
When Buddha came back to his hometown after twelve years, his wife wouldn’t come to receive him. The whole city gathered to receive him except his wife. Buddha laughed, and he said to his chief disciple, Ananda, “Yashodhara has not come. I know her well. It seems she still loves me. She is proud, and she feels hurt. I was thinking that twelve years is a long time and she might not be in love now, but it seems she is still in love – still angry. She has not come to receive me. I will have to go to the house.”
So Buddha went. Ananda was with him; it was a condition with Ananda. When Ananda took initiation he made a condition with Buddha, to which Buddha agreed, that he would always remain with him.
He was an elder cousin-brother, so Buddha had to concede.
Ananda followed him into the house, into the palace, so Buddha said, “At least for this you remain behind and do not come with me, because she will be furious. I am coming back after twelve years, and I just ran away without even telling her. She is still angry, so do not come with me; otherwise she will feel that I have not even allowed her to say anything. She must be feeling to say many things, so let her be angry, do not come with me.”
Buddha went in. Of course, Yashodhara was just a volcano. She erupted, exploded. She started crying and weeping and saying things. Buddha stayed there, waited there, and by and by she cooled down and realized that Buddha had not even uttered a single word. She wiped her eyes and looked at Buddha, and Buddha said, “I have come to say that I have gained something, I have known something, I have realized something. If you become cool I can give you the message – the truth that I have realized. I have waited so much in order that you could go through a catharsis. Twelve years is a long affair. You must have gathered many wounds, and your anger is understandable; I expected this. That shows that you are still in love with me. But there is a love beyond this love, and only because of that love have I come back to tell you something.”
But Yashodhara could not feel that love. It is difficult to feel it because it is so silent. It is so silent, it is as if absent. When the mind ceases, then a different love happens. But that love has no opposite to it. When mind ceases, really, whatsoever happens has no opposite to it. With the mind there is always the polar opposite, and the mind moves like a pendulum. This sutra is wonderful, and miracles are possible through it: UNMINDING MIND, KEEP IN THE MIDDLE – UNTIL.
So try it. And this sutra is for your whole life. You cannot practice it sometimes, you have to be aware continuously. Doing, walking, eating, in relationship, everywhere – remain in the middle. Try at least, and you will feel a certain calmness developing, a tranquility coming to you, a quiet center growing within you.
Even if you are not successful in being exactly in the middle, try to be in the middle. By and by you will have the feel of what middle means. Whatsoever may be the case – hate or love, anger or repentance – always remember the polar opposites and remain in between. And sooner or later you will stumble upon the exact middle point.
Once you know it you can never forget it again, because that middle point is beyond the mind. That middle point is all that spirituality means.
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