බුදුන් වහන්සේ සමග පිළිසඳරක යෙදෙන්නට, උන්වහන්සේ සමග සංචරණයක් අරඹන්නට පෙර යම්කිසිවකු පූරණය කළ යුතු සුදුසුකම් කිසිවක් ඇත්තේ ද? ඒවා මොනවා ද? ශ්රද්ධාව…? ධර්මය පිළිබඳ දැනුම…? බුද්ධිය…? පාණ්ඩිත්යය…? අපි චතුරාර්ය සත්යය (සත්ය සතර) ගැන දැන සිටිමු. ආර්ය අෂ්ටාංගික මාර්ගය අපට කටපාඩම් ය.…
Are there any qualifications that one must fulfill before engaging in conversation with the Buddha, before embarking on a journey with him? What are they?
Faith…? Knowledge of the Dhamma…? Intelligence…? Scholarly…?
We know the Four Noble Truths. The Noble Eightfold Path is memorized by heart. We can also recite the Paticcha Samuppada as shown in the book. We can also become a graduate in Buddhist philosophy. But,.?
Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, also known as Osho, provides a new answer to the question of whether understanding can be gained from a collection of words (a collection of words). That is through the first volume of the (Osho) dialogue series called Discipline of Transcendence. This has been translated into Sinhala by Dr. Rohini Wijesuriya under the title ‘Osho – A Journey with the Buddha’. This book, which is a serial publication, delicately exposes the simple life of the Buddha, and the awakening and awakening of that mindfulness. The excellence of the book is that the reader, while reading the book, encounters himself at an unexpected moment.
Immense emotions and feelings pull you this way and that way, push you. Being pulled in many directions, you are fragmented, divided and divided. You miss your center. You completely forget who you are.
Watch carefully. Who are you when you are greedy for money? You are nothing but greed for money. When you are angry, when your ego is hurt, who are you? You are only the ego wounded by hatred. Nothing else. Who are you when you are emotional about lust? You are lust itself, nothing else. When you are ambitious, when you want power, fame, who are you? You are nothing but ambition.
(A Journey with Buddha – page 25)
Osho once made a strange statement; ‘The first atomic scientist was Buddha.’ He says that modern scientists can easily identify with the Buddha’s language; this is because Buddhism is sharply positioned above reason and intellect and is the reason for not opposing reason. According to Osho, Einstein, 25 centuries later, was in a way following Buddha. Osho also says that Buddha was not prepared to answer questions about spirituality, but that a Buddha is someone who is prepared to answer questions about methodology only.
‘This is his scientific approach. Science believes in method. Science never answers ‘why’.
If you ask him why there is water, he (the scientist) cannot answer; he will just shrug his shoulders. But he can tell you how water is formed.
(A Journey with the Buddha – page 21)
The book contains a number of examples to show how the Buddha’s statements, that language, are compatible with modern physics; this is just one of them.
When a person dies, the body disappears. The material part disappears. But that non-material part is a vibration. That vibration is released and dissipates. Now, when a suitable womb is ready for this vibration, it enters that womb.
There is no soul or person that goes there. There is no ego that goes there. Nothing material needs to go there. It is a push of energy… One house has become uninhabitable and one body can no longer live with it. The old desire, the desire for life, (Buddha’s word for it is craving) – is burning alive. That very desire is taking a leap.
Now listen to modern physics! They say there is no such thing as matter. Do you see the material wall behind me? You cannot go through it. If you try to do so, you will be harmed. But modern physics says there is nothing material there. It is simply the working of energy.
(A Journey with the Buddha – pp. 321-322)
It is a well-known fact that the Buddha rejected ‘soul’. We know about that, as well as about his doctrine of the selflessness, O Book. In accordance with this anatma, the metaphor of breaking the ‘candlestick’, an argument about that auspicious phrase, arises, but Osho untangles that tangle subtly.
Osho’s story about the river is also of a similar nature. ‘If you trust the river, you can float with the river,’ says Osho. He also says that you start sinking in the river the moment your trust is broken. The river drowns a person, takes him to the bottom of the river from the moment fear arises in a person. As an example, Osho points to ‘dead bodies’. The river never swallows dead bodies. Dead bodies float on the water because they have no fear or doubt.
‘If you understand that sport is just a sport, there is no harm; the problem arises because you become too serious about the sport,’ says Osho.
Osho shows that people have the ability and potential to change. This is the wonderful parable that Osho tells for this.
When a very skilled thief was running away from the king's palace with a treasure, the princes chased him. When he ran to the bank of the river, he heard the sound of the princes' and horses' hooves. The river was wide. There was no bridge to escape. In fear, he saw a monk sitting under a tree. He threw off his clothes and started meditating naked. He never knew about meditation. But you can imagine him sitting on a lotus seat with his eyes closed.
The princes came, the police arrived. No one was there. There were only the two monks. They (the princes) touched the feet of the two monks. The thief felt very guilty. “This is not good.” He thought.
“I am a thief and a robber, these people touched my feet. I am a false monk. If a false monk is respected so much, how will it be if I become a true monk?”
A ray of light entered his life. He gave up his old habits and became a monk.
His fame spread. One day even the king touched his feet. Then the king asked:
“How did it happen to you? How did you renounce the world? I also hope and dream that one day that great blessing will fall upon me. God will give me the courage to renounce everything. Sir, how did you renounce? Tell me your story. It will give me courage.”
The former thief burst into laughter. He also said:
“You helped me a lot. Your princes came after me.”
The king asked, “What do you mean?” Then he told the whole story.
“When I saw that a false ascetic like me, a thief, a murderer, could be respected, I suddenly could not go back to my old ways. When they touched my feet, it was a very pleasant moment for me. I had never felt like that before. It was such a beautiful moment. From then on I started meditating. From then on I gave up the world. I am now infinitely happy. I have now reached my home.
(A Journey with the Buddha – pages 247-248)
The whole society, says Osho, is willing to play the role of a king, a ruler. That is why people have already become policemen and judges (acting as policemen and judges).
Osho then asks, ‘Isn’t it time to start a new game?’
But if you don’t give life to a new mind, a new thought, the game won’t be new,’ Osho also provides a complement.
People simply live by imitation. Man is an imitator by nature, that is also Osho’s own idea. In 1950, after a schoolgirl in Japan jumped into a volcano, more than 300 otherwise well-off schoolgirls jumped into the same volcano in the two months that followed. After the world-famous film actress Marilyn Monroe committed suicide in 1962, the suicide rate in America has increased rapidly.
‘Try to be yourself,’ says Osho. ‘The mind tends to imitate, so be careful!’ is also Osho’s own warning.
Sigmund Freud once made a penetrating observation that it is difficult for a human being to live without lies. It is difficult for a human being to stand up straight without lies because it requires immense strength and courage to be truthful. Lies act like lubricants; they make life smoother. That is why when one believes in God and prays, life feels lighter. It is also true that when one casts one’s responsibilities on God, one naturally feels lighter and more at ease. You may become somewhat cynical, but the idea that there is a paradise waiting for you, a God waiting for you, gives life a temporary pleasure.
Karl Marx said that ‘religion is opium’ to point out this situation, Osho emphasizes.
‘Yes.’ Osho agrees with this, but also talks about another side of it.
‘Religion may be opium, but so is communism. Anything that gives hope for this world or another world – anything that tells you to sacrifice your present for it – is like opium.’
Buddha says; You have to live in the present; in this moment.
Osho also reminds us that Buddha said this about the imitator:
‘You are still following; you have not yet found your own light. Your eyes are blue with light (the joy of Buddhahood), but your own flame has not yet been lit.’
Kathleen Jayawardena