Bodhidharma: The Greatest Zen Master
Talks given from 05/07/87 am to 14/07/87 pm
English Discourse series
20 Chapters
Year published: 1987
Bodhidharma: The Greatest Zen Master
Chapter #1
Chapter title: To seek nothing is bliss
5 July 1987 am in Chuang Tzu Auditorium
BELOVED OSHO,
BODHIDHARMA'S OUTLINE OF PRACTICE
MANY ROADS LEAD TO THE PATH, BUT BASICALLY THERE ARE ONLY
TWO: REASON AND PRACTICE. TO ENTER BY REASON MEANS TO
REALIZE THE ESSENCE THROUGH INSTRUCTION AND TO BELIEVE THAT
ALL LIVING THINGS SHARE THE SAME TRUE NATURE, WHICH ISN'T
APPARENT BECAUSE IT'S SHROUDED BY SENSATION AND DELUSION.
THOSE WHO TURN FROM DELUSION BACK TO REALITY, WHO MEDITATE
ON WALLS, THE ABSENCE OF SELF AND OTHER, THE ONENESS OF
MORTAL AND SAGE, AND WHO REMAIN UNMOVED, EVEN BY
SCRIPTURES, ARE IN COMPLETE AND UNSPOKEN AGREEMENT WITH
REASON. WITHOUT MOVING, WITHOUT EFFORT, THEY ENTER, WE SAY,
BY REASON.
TO ENTER BY PRACTICE REFERS TO FOUR ALL-INCLUSIVE PRACTICES:
SUFFERING INJUSTICE, ADAPTING TO CONDITIONS, SEEKING NOTHING
AND PRACTICING THE DHARMA.
FIRST, SUFFERING INJUSTICE. WHEN THOSE WHO SEARCH FOR THE
PATH ENCOUNTER ADVERSITY, THEY SHOULD THINK TO THEMSELVES,
"IN COUNTLESS AGES GONE BY, I'VE TURNED FROM THE ESSENTIAL TO
THE TRIVIAL AND WANDERED THROUGH ALL MANNER OF EXISTENCE,
OFTEN ANGRY WITHOUT CAUSE AND GUILTY OF NUMBERLESS
TRANSGRESSIONS. NOW, THOUGH I DO NO WRONG, I'M PUNISHED BY
MY PAST. NEITHER GODS NOR MEN CAN FORESEE WHEN AN EVIL DEED
WILL BEAR ITS FRUIT. I ACCEPT IT WITH AN OPEN HEART AND
WITHOUT COMPLAINT OF INJUSTICE." THE SUTRAS SAY, "WHEN YOU
MEET WITH ADVERSITY, DON'T BE UPSET. BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE."
WITH SUCH UNDERSTANDING, YOU'RE IN HARMONY WITH REASON.
AND BY SUFFERING INJUSTICE, YOU ENTER THE PATH.
SECOND, ADAPTING TO CONDITIONS. AS MORTALS, WE'RE RULED BY
CONDITIONS, NOT BY OURSELVES. ALL THE SUFFERING AND JOY WE
EXPERIENCE DEPEND ON CONDITIONS. IF WE SHOULD BE BLESSED BY
SOME GREAT REWARD, SUCH AS FAME OR FORTUNE, IT'S THE FRUIT OF
A SEED PLANTED BY US I