Chapter #4 The Sound Of One Hand Clapping #4

the only way to honour existence is to rejoice in it
no prayer can be real honour
because prayer is basically a demand
in fact deep down it is a complaint
you are asking for something more
it is not gratitude
it is just the opposite of gratitude
hence, what goes on
in the churches and the temples
and the mosques and the synagogues is not honour

for existence the real honour can be only one
to rejoice
in existence's absolute ordinariness
in the small things
because there are no great things
eating, drinking, sleeping, walking, sitting
looking at the stars or at the trees
just small things

life consists of all these small things
but if you know how to rejoice
then the ordinary becomes extraordinary
then you know the magic of transformation
then the mundane is no more mundane
it becomes sacred
and to make the mundane sacred
is the whole philosophy of sannyas

there is only one real marriage
and that is marriage to bliss
in fact all other marriages
are indirect ways of reaching bliss
but when there is a direct route
why unnecessarily go by an indirect route?
and the experience of thousands of years is
that the people who go through the indirect
never reach

there are a thousand and one obstacles
they get distracted
they search for bliss but they attain only misery
they hope for heaven but what they gain is only hell

existence has to be approached directly
not via anything, no mediator is needed
and the direct approach to existence
is what i call meditation
without any mediator
without anybody
standing between you and existence
when you encounter existence
in its tremendous beauty
bliss starts showering and it goes on showering
it knows no end

there is only one marriage worthwhile
and that is being wedded to bliss directly

sannyas can be defined as a marriage to bliss
avoiding all other husbands and wives
and when you have avoided all in between
the philosophies, the religions, the dogmas
it is so close
that there is not even a single inch's difference
the difference is created by the indirect approach
the distance is created by people
who are standing between you and the whole

there is no need for anybody
no messenger, no prophet is needed
god is yours
existence is yours as much as anybody else's

one should take an immediate plunge
yes
one hesitates a little before one plunges
into the ultimate depths of life
that hesitation is natural
but one has to put that hesitation aside
one has to be courageous
and it is a single moment's courage
that does the magic

it is just like jumping into cold water
if you go on standing on the bank
you can go on standing for lives
it is only a question
of a single moment of courage and risk
throw off your clothes and jump in
yes it is cold... but only for a moment
and then it has tremendous beauty
and tremendous freshness
aliveness

the false aristocrat is an aristocrat because of birth
which is not much, which has no significance
birth is the same
whether you are born in an emperor's home
or in a beggar's home
the womb is the same
the queen's womb or the beggar woman's womb
it makes no difference at all

the real aristocracy comes from a second birth
that is the meaning of sujato

when you become blissful
when you become silent
when you become loving
when you become aware
when a second birth happens
which is the birth of your consciousness

of your real being
not of the body, but of the being
and then one has a certain aristocracy

such a person may not have anything
he may be a beggar
but you will see the grace of the emperor in him
you will see him surrounded
by a subtle aura of the beyond
he is really born
others are only half-born
they are in a kind of limbo. physically born
but psychologically still waiting for birth
socrates says, i am a midwife
that s exactly the function of a master
to help you attain the second birth
in india, when a person becomes awakened
we call him twice-born, dwija
one who has been born again

the first birth
brings you out of the physical womb
the second birth
brings you out of the psychological womb
the first birth brings you out of the physical womb
into the psychological
it creates mind
the second birth takes you out of the psychological
and brings you to the spiritual
it gives you being

and being is immortality, deathlessness

the only criterion
that the second birth has happened
is total blissfulness
in all situations unaffected, untouched
by whatsoever happens around
failure or success, richness or poverty
youth or old age, life or death
the wheel of the opposites goes on moving
but the man who knows bliss
remains centred, unmoved
he is the unmoving centre of a moving wheel
the centre of the cyclone

there are many kinds of beauties
there is the physical beauty
which is only momentary
it may be there today and tomorrow it is gone
in fact it is bound to
in fact it is already going down the drain
slipping out of your hands every moment

the second layer of beauty is psychological
it is of intellect, of aesthetic sensibility
the man who has a musical ear
or the man who has the sensitivity
of a painter in his eyes

his beauty is far deeper than the physical
sometimes it happens
that the person may be physiologically ugly
for example
socrates was very ugly, snub-nosed
but psychologically, a man of immense beauty
if one saw him from far away he was repulsive
but if one came in close contact
then one would enter
into a totally different kind of man
because he had such a keen intelligence
rarely surpassed
and such sensibility
such aesthetic transparency
that once you looked into his psyche
you would completely forget his body

the same seems to be true about jesus
physiologically he was not beautiful
but psychologically one of the most beautiful men
who has ever walked on the earth

but there is still a third
the ultimate layer of beauty
that is of being, is absolutely of your interiority
to understand that
seeing the body is not enough
experiencing the person's intelligence and sensitivity
is not enough

for that only a disciple
one who is absolutely surrendered
open, vulnerable, is needed

that's what sannyas is all about
being in tune with the master
at the deepest level of beauty
by-passing the physiological, the psychological
just going like an arrow
not being stuck
at the physiological or the psychological
but hitting deep down
into the very core of the master
only then do you know the ultimate beauty
and there resides bliss

the physiological beauty may give you pleasure
the psychological can give you happiness
but only the spiritual can give you bliss
it opens the doors of the kingdom of bliss
so one can do two things

either one discovers one's being
and in that very discovery one becomes blissful
or one starts becoming blissful
and in becoming blissful one discovers one's being
both are the same
different aspects of the same phenomenon

if you want to enter from the first door then meditate

then be silent
and drown yourself deeper and deeper
down to the very rock-bottom of your being
there you will find yourself
and bliss
as a shadow
or, if that is not your liking
the feminine mind particularly
does not like meditation very much
it is natural

that's why there have been very few women buddhas
not that there is any intrinsic obstruction
for a woman to become a buddha
the only reason has been that all the male buddhas
have been talking about meditation
and meditation
does not have much appeal for the woman
she needs a totally different approach
she will be more interested in blissfulness
in something orgasmic
in something which is closer to dance, music, poetry
in something to which
she can abandon herself totally
not in something
which is a question of self-remembering
meditation means self-remembering
and blissfulness means forgetting the self totally

when you begin they look opposite

remembering and forgetting are certainly opposites
but when you reach closer to your being
they become one
remembering the self brings you to the real self
the unreal self is dropped on the way
and in forgetting the self from the very beginning
you start dropping the false self
a moment comes when the false self is abandoned
and the real arises of its own accord

my effort here is to create a balance
which has been lacking up to now
religion has been dominated too much
by the male mind
it has been a calamity
the woman has been unnecessarily deprived
it is very difficult to find women
of the calibre of buddha
zarathustra, lao tzu
difficult for the simple reason
that the method they chose was male-oriented

so i am creating a synthesis here
those who are male-oriented
a few women are male-oriented
it is not necessarily so that no woman
will be interested in meditation
there are a few women
who will reach through meditation
and there are a few men
who will reach through blissfulness
but those are exceptions
and exceptions cannot be counted
they only prove the rule

so for you
my suggestion is be more blissful
dance, sing, be a drunkard and then it will be easier
once the door opens for the drunken people
then thousands of women who have been waiting
for millions of years to become buddhas
and they are all arriving here
this may be the first place
where thousands of women will become buddhas

i count courage
as being the most significant religious quality
although in the past
just the opposite has been the case
cowards, only cowards
out of fear, afraid of death
hell, punishment, judgement day
have been religious

out of fear they were praying
doing all kinds of stupid rituals, following utter fools
but their orientation was such
that they could not be rebellious

they were afraid of rebellion, they had to be obedient
obedience has been taught to them as
the most fundamental religious quality
it is not
it may be a quality in an army
but it is not a quality of a religious man
it is a subtle method of regimentation

the religious person
has to be courageous enough to explore
because truth cannot be given by the scriptures
it is untransferrable
bliss cannot be transmitted
to you by somebody else
you have to seek and search
and you have to travel alone
and you have to go onto untravelled paths
because there are not asphalt ways
no superhighways where crowds can go
and buses can go and tourists can go
one has to go alone
and one has to create one's path oneself
by walking on it
the path is not already there, it is not readymade

buddha is reported to have said
that the way of the true seeker
is like a bird flying in the sky
it leaves no footprints
so no other bird can follow it
because there are no footprints left
there are no footprints at all
existence always remains the same mystery
many have experienced it
but nobody has been able to demystify it
nobody will ever be able to demystify it
because when you experience it, it is inexpressible
you cannot put it into words, into theories
and if one is courageous
bliss starts from the very beginning
just the idea that you are going
into the exploration of the unknown
is enough to give the heart
a new beat
a fresh breeze, a new joy
a rebirth, a resurrection
truth, bliss, freedom, godliness, love

these are all aspects of one experience
and that experience is available only
to the courageous, to the rebellious
be a rebel

sannyas is a rebellion
a rebellion against all tradition
a rebellion against all the rotten past
a rebellion against all that is dead
and a search for the living

a search which will need
many many risks to be taken
adventures to be accepted
challenges to be encountered
but it is a joy
it is bliss all the way from the beginning to the end

one just has to learn the taste of exploration
and then
each moment becomes more and more alive
more and more festive
more and more celebrating
and the ultimate celebration
is when you have found
that you are bliss
that bliss is not something outside you
that you are god
that god is not something outside you
that you are freedom, that you are liberation

in that moment the ultimate dance happens
it simply explodes
in that explosion you are lost
and only that which is truth remains
that truth is the longing of every heart

man has been told again and again to be perfect
that is a wrong beginning
to tell somebody to be perfect is to drive him nuts

that's why the whole of humanity
is almost living in a madhouse

perfection is not something that one can achieve
it is a by-product of blissfulness
remember the word by-product
you cannot achieve it directly
it comes as a shadow of blissfulness
so i don't say to you to be perfect
i say to you to be blissful
and perfection will follow of its own accord
in its own time
and who cares for perfection?
if you have a need
it is only the miserable person
who cares for perfection
the blissful person has no need for it
and this is one of the fundamental laws of life
if you are in need you will not get it
existence functions
almost on the same lines as banking

the bank is not going to give to you
if you don't have any need the bank is after you
existence is always willing to give to you
if you don't need
the needy person is a beggar
and existence does not like beggars
the person who is blissful is an emperor
and existence loves emperors

so be blissful, rejoice
and don t bother about perfection
it comes
it inevitably comes
and when it comes on its own
it has a tremendous beauty

my only discipline is to be blissful
no other discipline is needed
no moral commandments
no shoulds, should-nots
just a simple message to be blissful
in whatsoever you can be, be blissful
and if one can imbibe the spirit of bliss
then many things follow

a blissful person is bound to be loving
you need not tell him love thy neighbour as thyself
you need not tell him love thy enemy as thyself
because when somebody
tries to love their neighbour
that love is false, the very effort makes it false
when one tries to love one's enemy
one knows perfectly that he is the enemy
otherwise, why should one try to love him?
one knows he is the enemy but one has to try
because jesus says so
and that is the only way to reach paradise

so it has to be done somehow
one pretends, one creates a pseudo kind of love
and the pseudo kind of love is very saccharin
It is not even sugar, it is not even sweet
it is saccharin, it tastes a little bitter
and because it is false
the other person will immediately see it as false
and will feel humiliated, insulted

friedrich nietzsche has said, and said rightly
that jesus is not right when he says
if somebody hits you on one of your cheeks
give him the other too
and i agree with nietzsche far more
in that matter
because he says
this is very insulting to the other person
it is humiliating
you are trying to be superior and higher
you are trying to be superhuman
you are reducing the other person to a cockroach
he is also a man, he needs equality
you are trying to be superior

i agree with nietzsche
if somebody hits you on one cheek
give him a good hit on the other immediately
that proves equality
it does not give you the idea of holier-than-thou
of look, you are hitting me

and i am giving you my other cheek
you are just an ordinary human being
i am a saint, a sage
that is very egoistic

but this is bound to happen
if you try to cultivate qualities
love, compassion, mercy
when cultivated become bogus, false, facades
they should come out of your blissfulness

yes, if you are so blissful
that you enjoyed one hit on the cheek
give him the other also
not because you are being superior
but because you enjoyed it
that's a totally different approach
you are telling him please, one more
it brought me to my senses
i loved it it made me a little awakened
you will be obliged to the person
because he has hit you
you will not be condescending
you will not be trying in any way to be superior
if you are full of bliss, you will share your bliss
that is natural
but you will not be serving people
you will be sharing

service is ugly, sharing is beautiful

when you serve somebody you hurt him
you humiliate him
all christian missionaries are humiliating
they are searching for the cripples, for the widows
what kind of people are these J
if they don't find any widows
or any orphans or any cripples

they will be at a loss
what to do?
how to reach god?
the whole ladder has disappeared
they are stepping on these people's heads
they are making their way to god
these are stepping stones, not people

a man of bliss shares
it is not a question
of whether the person needs it or not
he simply shares because he has too much
out of abundance he shares
hence my only discipline is be blissful
and everything else follows it

man has tried in many ways to be silent
because the world is too noisy
it is too much, it is very loud
it creates great tension, anxiety, anguish

hence a natural idea arises in the mind of man
about how to get rid of it
how to hide yourself in some sanctuary
monastery, mountain, in a desert
where nobody disturbs you
where you are left alone to yourself
there is great need to be oneself
to have one's own space

this is a logical conclusion
because the world is too heavy
and sooner or later a person feels crowded
overcrowded, crushed, from all sides suffocated
because of this suffocation
religion became an escape

the conclusion is logical but not real
not existential
you can escape from the world
but you cannot escape from yourself
and the real cause of noise is within you
not in the world
you will quarrel with the monks in the monastery
nuns will compete and be jealous of each other
even in the desert, sitting alone
a crow will start disturbing you
and that will be enough, in a desert that is enough
in the marketplace
you could have forgotten the crow
but in the desert a single crow is enough

wherever you go
you will carry your mind, your reactions
and if there is nothing to worry about
you will start worrying about nothing
what am i doing here?
is it right to be here?
is it good to sit alone in the desert
when the whole world is suffering?
this is escapism
and perhaps i am missing something
who knows?
life is a great opportunity
and i am sitting in the desert doing nothing

you will become disturbed about it

you will create new kinds of problems for yourself
mind grows problems just like trees grow leaves
the conclusion is logical but not real
not of real help

so i don't suggest escapism, i suggest an alchemy
to transform your inner being into a song
your inner noise into a song
because a song
is nothing but a transformation of noise

what is music after all?
just noise arranged in a beautiful way
the same orchestra can drive you crazy
just put together thirty crazy musicians
who are not in tune with each other at all
and that will be enough
the same orchestra, the same instruments
can create something celestial
something of the beyond
it is the same noise
just a little different arrangement

escape is not needed
but a different alchemy is needed

so i don't say leave the world
i say change your attitude, your approach
rather than searching
for an empty space somewhere
search for a blissful song within
create it
all that is needed is available
it just has to be put in the right combination
every ingredient is already given
you just have to mix it
mix it artfully. intelligently
and once you have created
the song of bliss within you
you will be surprised that the whole world
has no more difficulties for you
you go singing in the marketplace
you can sit in the madhouse with absolute joy
in fact you can enjoy the mad people
i have been doing that for my whole life
what do you think i am doing right now?
collecting all kinds of crazies, cuckoos
and enjoying it, really enjoying it
they are beautiful people
somebody just needs to know how to enjoy them
somebody needs a certain insight

i used to visit the madhouses
then finally i dropped it
because i saw that the whole earth is a madhouse
what is the point of going behind walls
outside the walls is the same place

once you have an inner tune
then nothing disturbs you
then the whole existence becomes a song
and a song that contains silence
a silence that contains song
when song and silence both meet together
the ultimate is achieved
the Sound
of one hand
Clapping