Direct Question

Consciousness

Any consciousness is an argument that existence is conscious. That is the whole meaning of God. It is not that God is a person somewhere. God is spread all over the place, in the trees, in the mountains, in the rivers, in the birds, in men, in stones. Everywhere, there is a possibility of consciousness.

This whole consciousness in its totality you can call by any name. You can call it the truth, you can call it nirvana, you can call it God, it does not matter. One thing is certain, that existence is not unconscious; existence is not unintelligent.

These dialogues of Zen trust in the person, that, “If we show him a line, his intelligence will not stay with what we have said but will follow the indication.” To the monk who was going to take Buddhism to people, Joshu said, “Please don’t do such a thing. You cannot share something with others which you don’t have. First have it. And never stay in a place where there is no buddha because that will be a sheer wastage of time. And don’t stay in a place where there is a buddha because that will transform you. You will not be anymore what you are.”

Listening to this, the man understood quickly. He must have been a very intelligent, understanding man. He must have looked at Joshu again and found the Buddha, just present in front of him.

The monk said, “In that case I won’t go! I am going to remain here.”

To which Joshu responded, “Farewell! Farewell!”

Just go wherever you want to go. Why are you changing your mind? I have not asked you to stay here.

He wants a clear-cut response from the man that he has recognized the buddhahood of Joshu.

So these are very strange dialogues. They are not like Socratic dialogues. Much that is important is left out of the dialogue and much that is absolutely non-essential is talked about. The essential is left by the corner to be understood.

One has to be very conscious with a Zen master; otherwise one can live with a Zen master and miss. The master cannot give you anything directly. There is no direct way of expressing the truth. The master can give only situations. Now, this is a situation: “Don’t stay where a buddha is and don’t stay where a buddha is not.” Now Joshu is putting the monk in a dilemma – then where to stay? He is not leaving him any place to stay.

Obviously he looked again at Joshu with a more conscious, alert mind. And he saw, “I was wrong in going away. This is the place where I should remain.” So he said immediately, “In that case I won’t go.” Jokingly, Joshu responded, “Farewell! Farewell!”

But the monk remained with Joshu. How can you leave such a master? It is impossible, first, to find a master like Joshu. And second, it is impossible to leave him. He will manage a trap for you, and once you are trapped in a master’s hand, your buddhahood is not far away. The very meeting with the master is the beginning of your growing into a buddha.

Zen wants you to know that even the leaves falling from the trees have a consciousness of their own. Nothing is unconscious. There are different ways of being conscious, but we are living in an ocean of consciousness. Millions are aspects…so that we cannot understand exactly what the bamboos are doing.