Chapter #7 The Sound Of One Hand Clapping #7

a life without love is life without life itself
it is just lived at the minimum
somehow lived, in fact a drag
it is boredom, meaninglessness
it is simply waiting for nothing to happen
waiting for godot
and godot never comes -- what comes is death

the man without love is born dead
lives dead, dies dead

it is a long process of death
but love brings a transformation
love is like spring
suddenly hidden sources start flowing
for the first time one feels the thrill of existence
the adventure, the immense call of the unknown
and a tremendous desire to plunge
into the ocean of existence
that's exactly what love is
a longing to meet with the whole
and in that very longing
life starts reaching higher peaks
it starts becoming a living fragrance
there is no other purpose
life itself is its own end

my sannyasins have to remember it continuously
because for centuries
the people's minds have been diverted
life has been made a means to some other end
and life is not a means
it is an end unto itself
and the moment life is an end unto itself
it is nothing but pure love

love is the taste of the real person
the authentic person
his vibe, his flavour, his fragrance

love brings many gifts, unaccountable gifts
an unending procession of gifts
these are a few of the gifts of love
one becomes just -- only love can be just
love cannot be unjust by its very nature
it cannot harm, it can only help
it cannot be prejudicial; it is absolutely impartial
it never uses the other as a means

that is reducing the other into a thing
into a commodity

love respects
love has no possibility
of ever reducing people into things
they are respected as divine beings
as personifications of godliness
and you cannot be unjust
when you think of the other as divine
and the moment your life is full
of love and justice
there is glory, there is great rejoicing in your being
there is a simple law of life
if you harm others
you cannot be happy, you cannot be blissful
if you harm others
the harm will come back to you multiplied
if you help, the same is also true

whatsoever you give comes back a thousandfold
so once a person starts sharing his love, his joy

he is showered by existence
from all nooks and corners
flowers start raining on him
he becomes enthroned
he becomes glorious

there is no other glory
compared to the glory of love
even the greatest emperor is a pauper
in comparison to a lover
he may have all the riches of the world
he may have conquered the whole world
but he has missed his own heart
deep down he is just darkness
there is no light within him
his life may be surrounded by many many pleasures
but deep down there is a wound
a cancerous wound
his love energy has not become a flower
and when love energy remains unflowered
it turns into a wound
it turns into pus, it stinks
hence the politicians stink, they are bound to
they are the people without love
the great conquerors
from alexander to napoleon, to adolf hitler
they all stink
for the simple reason
that they have missed flowering
their spring has not happened

love is my simple message
no other gospel is needed
love is enough, more than enough
it is the whole alchemy of transformation

mind knows no contentment
because mind is without love
and contentment is a by-product of love
mind is logic -- logic is basically discontentment
it is argument with existence, it is not agreement
even if logicians agree, they only agree to disagree
their fundamental approach is of disagreement
mind is in a constant fight
and of course, fighting with the whole
is doomed from the very beginning --
you cannot win
how can a small wave of the ocean
hope to win against the ocean?
the very desire is simply insane
and mind breeds all kinds of insanities
but they all start from the seed of discontentment

a sannyasin has to shift his energy
from the mind to the heart
from logic to love

the moment you are loving
you are starting to agree with existence
that's what love is all about an agreement
not reluctantly done, joyously done
not unwilling done, but dancingly done
with great relish and gusto
as if one is coming home

the existence is our home
the very idea of struggle and fight is stupid
there is no point in it
i teach harmony
be in tune with existence
with trees, with the wind, with the rain, with the sun
be in tune
and wherever you find yourself disagreeing
remember you are at fault
existence is always right

so whenever you are miserable you are wrong
drop your wrong
don't try to correct existence, that cannot be done
that which cannot be done should not be tried
because that is a futile effort
don't be american

the american philosophy is
try it and try it and try it again
i say, try it, try it, but don't try it again
otherwise you will look silly

twice is enough, thrice is too much
and if you go on trying then you are just being stupid
give it a try, perhaps a second try
but then enough is enough
then stop trying and start enjoying

struggle is not the way of love, harmony, accord.
the moment you are in accord with the whole
life becomes a tremendous contentment
so deep, so unfathomable, so immeasurable
so indefinable, so inexpressible
and we are all searching for it but searching in a
wrong way, in the american way
it can be found right now
but you have to put your struggle aside
relax
and suddenly it is there

i know only one prayer
the prayer that comes as a shadow of a loving heart
a by-product of love, a consequence of love
it has not to be done, it happens
it is not addressed to anybody
it is an unaddressed thankfulness to the whole
to all that is
and remember, it is unexpressed
words won't help

words are very small and love is vast
as vast as the sky itself
you cannot force the sky into a word
so all prayers which consist of words
are man's inventions
but there is a prayer which does not consist of words
which has never been said
which will never be said
but which has happened many times
and will go on happening many times

it happens when you are in total love
when there is nobody holding back
when you have gone completely into the whole
with no conditions, with no strings attached
with no demands
when you have relaxed yourself
surrendered yourself to the ultimate unity of things
to the celestial music
and you have just become a simple note in it
no longer carrying any separatehood
just a simple harmonious part of it
then there is prayer
that prayer can only be defined as
unexpressed gratefulness
unsaid thankfulness

compassion without love is hypocrisy
one can practise it, cultivate it

that's what christian missionaries go on doing
all over the world
it is compassion without love
of course there are motives hidden behind it
because love is missing
so some motive is bound to be there
the motive is to reach heaven
to attain to heavenly pleasures
it is a business, it is a bargain
here we sacrifice
there we will get more than we are sacrificing
with all the interest due

and here is only a small life
and there you will attain to pleasures
for infinity, for eternity
it is really a lottery
giving just a small coin
and then getting millions of dollars out of it
it is gambling
but these gamblers
have been praised down the ages
as saints
they are simply business people

to me compassion without love is pseudo
and has been the cause
of many mischievous deeds on the earth
love has to be the beginning of real compassion
when it comes out of love then there is no motive

then it is unmotivated
and anything unmotivated has a sheer beauty
when you do something
just because you love to do it
for no other reason at all
nothing has to be gained out of it
you may in fact lose something
but you cannot gain anything
still you want to do it
because it is such a joy to do it
then compassion is a healing force
then whomsoever it touches it heals
then whomsoever it comes close to it transforms

so i don't say cultivate compassion
i say be loving
and compassion will come of its own accord
when you find it following you of its own accord
then welcome it, but never cultivate it
never try to be of service to people
these do-gooders are the most dangerous people
in the world
these are the criminals
in the name of beautiful words
they are dominating humanity
of course when you serve somebody you oblige him
you become higher, he becomes lower
you have really humiliated him

but love never humiliates
in fact it exalts
so it is not a question of serving
it is a question of living your love
it has nothing to do with the other
it has something to do with your innermost being
you are so full of love that you want to share it
just like a rain cloud
so full of rainwater it wants to shower
it is not much concerned where, on whom
it will shower on the rich
it will shower on the poor
it will shower on the rocks
it will shower on the soil

it will simply shower
unconcerned on whom it is bestowing
on whom it is showering its richness
in fact it is not obliging anybody
on the contrary it is being obliged by everybody
whosoever is receiving its showers is obliging him

a real man of love
is continuously obliged by everybody
whosoever greets his love, receives his love
it is a totally different dimension
it starts by being loving
not by being compassionate
all the religions in the world
have been doing just the opposite
they teach you to be compassionate
then you will be loving
i say to you
be loving
compassion comes on its own

love should not be an idea
it should be just pure living
one should not think of love as a far away ideal
that has to be achieved somewhere
in the future, tomorrow
it should be something immediate
like breathing

you don't postpone it for tomorrow
you don't say, i will breathe when i have time
or when i retire
or when i am finished with other important things
breathing can wait
but that's what people are doing with love
and love is exactly the breathing of the soul
just as breathing is for the body
love is for the soul
don't postpone it
not even for a single moment
if there is a choice
whether to postpone breathing or love
then postpone breathing
because you will not lose much
but don't postpone love
that is the very essential core of life

each moment
find ways of how to breathe love
and there are infinite possibilities
one just has to look for them
and they are there, they have always been there
we have been avoiding

a sannyasin starts changing his valuation
he changes his gestalt
it is like you are reading a book
you jump from one word to another word
and you always miss the gap between the words
which is always there
you can change the gestalt
you can start jumping from one gap to another gap
leaving the words
and then you will be surprised
it is the same book
but the message is totally different
then you can read the gita, bible, koran
but you will be reading the same book
the book of nothingness
then whether you read hebrew or latin or greek
does not matter
because you are reading only the intervals
which are neither hebrew nor sanskrit
nor greek nor latin
which are simply gaps

the same is true about our life
we have to change our gestalt
we look for misery, we find it
start looking for joy and you will find it
we look for thorns and they are there
start looking for flowers
and they have always been there
just waiting for you to look at them

love should be our continuous choice
find out ways and means in every situation
so that you can love
even a person who is very repulsive to you

may have something that you can love in him
once it happened
a man died
he was the worst man of the town, the most hated
and the ritual of the town was
that before a person can be burned
somebody should speak in praise of him
but there was nothing to say in praise of that man
everybody was looking at each other
what to say
because whatsoever you say will be wrong
and nobody wanted to say anything in praise
of that ugly man; he has been such a torture
they were all feeling relieved
that at last they were finished with him
but the burial could not start
finally, one man stood up
and he said, this beautiful man is dead
he was beautiful
as far as his four other brothers are concerned
remember those four who are still alive
in comparison to those four
he was the noblest person you can think about
and the whole crowd clapped and appreciated
this was a truth
they had completely forgotten
about the four who are still alive
you can always find something
even the worst man
you just have to look for it

and you can also find the worst in the best man
you just have to look for it
it is only a question of outlook

a sannyasin has to choose all those aspects
of life and people
which create a response in you of love
so slowly your life becomes a continuum of love
from one moment to the other
it starts growing deeper and deeper into love
when you've reached the unfathomable
you have come home

unfathomable love is the ultimate secret of life
but the journey begins now

love is the most beautiful phenomenon in existence
flowers are beautiful
rainbows are beautiful
stars are beautiful
but they are nothing compared to love
because they are all material manifestations
love is the manifestation of consciousness
it is the flower of consciousness
it is all the colours of the rainbow
but its constituent factors are not material
but non-material
it is all the light of the stars, but stars die
sooner or later they will go out of life
continuously they are fading out

love has an eternal source of light
it never dies, it is immortal
hence its beauty is divine

to love is the only religion there is
all other religions are a hindrance to love
naturally, because they are competitors in the
marketplace
they are all against love
they know certainly that if love wins
then mohammedanism, christianity, hinduism
all are gone
so they will not allow love
they will cripple and paralyse love
in every possible way
that's what they have been doing
for thousands of years
they have poisoned the very source of love
my effort here is to purify your sources of love
to bring you back the gift
that you had brought with you
from your very childhood
it has to be refined, purified, it has to be reclaimed
once you have started living
just a little bit of love and that's enough
that small flame of love is enough
then the whole forest of your life will be aflame

love can be lived but cannot be known
love can be experienced but cannot be measured
love can be tasted but cannot be expressed
it is indefinable
it is the most mysterious experience in existence
and the most glorious
and the most exalted
and the most ecstatic
but the strange calamity is
that people go on looking for everything except love
yes, they talk about love but it is mere talk
they don't live it
they want love but they don't give it
and when everybody wants and nobody gives
how can it happen?

love has to be given
and then it comes of its own accord
existence is not miserly
if we give and share it returns back
but one should not give
in order to get something back
because that is not giving
one should simply give for the sheer joy of giving
and then it comes
and it comes as a great surprise
because you were not expecting
you were not hoping
you were not waiting
and suddenly the guest has come and he has
knocked on the door

in india we have a very beautiful word for the guest
it does not exist in any other language
in india our word for the guest is atiti
atiti means
one who comes without informing you
if he informs you he is not a guest
if he gives you a date: that i am coming
on this date, by this train
then he is not a guest
because you are already prepared
then you are going to receive him at the station
and...
then you are ready, then it is not a surprise

the guest is a guest
only when suddenly out of nowhere
the door opens and the guest enters
and for a moment you cannot believe your own eyes
that moment of surprise
comes in the life of a sannyasin every day
every moment
because he is not expecting anything
he is simply giving
and each moment brings thousands of miracles
and these miracles go on
becoming bigger and bigger

life becomes a sheer celebration
love is the secret of it all

love is the greatest treasure
the most precious benediction
and it is our birthright, everybody is entitled to it
it is not something that needs rare talents
it is not something like painting or music or poetry
love is a natural, spontaneous phenomenon
to all beings
so nobody is more endowed or less endowed
as far as love is concerned
existence is absolutely communistic
all are equal

but the strange thing is
that very few people
are even aware of their treasures
and the reason is that we are looking outside
and love resides inside
we are wandering everywhere in search of it
and it is just sitting
at the very centre of our being
hence all that is needed is a simple process
of returning home
a one-hundred-eighty degree turn towards oneself
that's what i call meditation

meditation is looking in
the moment you look in
the world of love opens up
and immediately you are blessed
immediately all poverty disappears
all longing, all discontent disappears
immediately, instantly
all that you wanted always to happen, has happened
one simply starts dancing
in sheer thankfulness

one cannot say anything about love
or whatsoever can be said
will be only approximately true, not really true
it will be at the most only a far away echo
a reflection of the moon in the lake
but not the truth of love itself

the truth of love is basically experienced in silence
utter silence
one has to be so silent
that not even a ripple of thought moves inside
so silent that one has lost even hearing
the sound of one's own heart beats
so silent that all noise of the world
within and without
has completely ceased
just a pure nothingness prevails
in that nothingness one hears the unheard

one experiences the unimaginable
that silence is not a dead silence
it is very alive
more alive than anything you have ever known
it is full of subtle music
but the music does not consist of sound
it is soundless music

the Sound
of one hand
Clapping

once that Sound
of one hand
Clapping

is heard
one has heard all the buddhas
all the awakened ones
all the masters
one has heard all that is worth hearing
one has tasted the nectar of life

so the preparation for love
is preparation for a deep silence
a virgin silence

and it is simply possible
it is not an arduous phenomenon
it is not like rising

towards a high mountainous peak
it is far more easy
it is totally different, just the opposite
a glacier descending
from the peaks of the mountains
slowly
without any sound
without any fuss and fury
silently sliding towards the valley
it is just like that

lao tzu says, it is like
the river going towards the ocean
he calls it the watercourse way

it is easier for the river to go
to the ocean
because the water is always searching
and seeking the lowest point
it is always seeking the deepest valley
it is not a search to be the first
but to be the last
and when one wants to be the last
there is no problem at all
when one wants to be the first then there is trouble

jesus says, blessed are those
who can stand last in the line
up to that point i agree with him
absolutely agree with him

blessed are those who are ready to be the last
but then he adds something
which drives christians nuts all over the world
then he says
blessed are those who are to be the last
for theirs shall be the kingdom of god
now the motive enters in
now it becomes a business proposal
to be the last means
if you want to be the first in the kingdom of god
then be the last
it is not the way of being the last
if i have to say it i will say
blessed are the last because they are the last