![]() |
Channels | ![]() |
In Focus |
Cartoons |
Education |
Environment |
Opinion |
Photo Essays |
Columns |
Business |
Random Thoughts |
Our Heritage |
Astrology |
Ayurveda |
Buddhism |
Cinema |
Culture |
Festivals |
Hinduism |
History |
People |
Places |
Sikhism |
Spirituality |
Society & Lifestyle |
Parenting |
Perspective |
Recipes |
Society |
Teens |
Women |
Creative Writings |
Computing |
Humor |
Individuality |
Literary Shelf |
Memoirs |
Quotes |
Stories |
Travelogues |
Workshop |
Spirituality | Share This Page | |
The Dialogue of the Buddha and the Shephard |
||
by Satya Chaitanya |
![]() |
|
Zorba the Greek by one of my all-time favourite writers, Nikos Kazantzakis reproduces the following fascinating dialogue between the Buddha and a shepherd.
I found the dialogue beautiful and fell in love with it the instant I read it the first time years ago. The idea expressed there is not new and ascetics all over the world have spoken in tones similar to that of the Buddha in these lines.
Ever reveling in the great wisdom statements of Vedanta, contented with food received as alms, free from grief, the only possession of these men is their compassion. Blessed indeed are the wise clad just in their loincloths.
Their only refuge the bottoms of trees, their palms their bowls for receiving food, they look down upon wealth as though it were but a rag. Blessed indeed are the wise clad just in their loincloths.
Never identifying with their bodies as themselves, for ever seeing themselves as their souls, they never let their minds dwell upon anything within, without or in between apart from that self. Blessed indeed are the wise clad just in their loincloths.
Contented entirely with their own blissful nature, the functions of their sense organs stilled and no more running toward their objects, they revel in the Supreme Self day in and day out. Blessed indeed are the wise clad just in their loincloths.
Repeating constantly the sacred five-syllable mantra, meditating forever on the lord of all beings in their hearts, they wander the world living on food received by begging. Blessed indeed are the wise clad just in their loincloths.
The young men and women of the city look pretty in their exquisite dresses. Of various sizes, shapes and complexions, they are all decked with ornaments. The whole scene looks like a splendid painting. And he, the living-liberated, mixes with them all without any hesitation and joyously revels among them, all the while maintaining in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher.
The trees of the jungle are heavy with their foliages and filled with fruits, their branches bending under their weight. They cast shades thick and cool, and they abound in birds that sing melodiously. He resorts to them by the day or by the night, to lie down on the naked ground beneath them. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he lives in palaces, now in the rich mansions of the wealthy. At times he resorts to the mountains, at others to the banks of running brooks. Sometimes he dwells in the huts of great ascetics whose wealth is their self-restraint. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he claps his hands and laughs in delight with children and now he revels among bright young women endowed with rich youth and now again he grieves with old men sad with heavy hearts. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he is amidst scholars endowed with great knowledge, now with those engrossed deeply in the pursuit of wisdom. Now he is with great poets, masters of the poet’s art, and now, with erudite logicians skilled in meaningful reasoning and drawing true conclusions. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he is engaged in the practice of meditation and now in worshipping the lord with auspicious, full blown fragrant flowers or even with clean leaves, his heart joyous and uplifted, himself surrendered in humility. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he chants the names of Shakti, now of Shiva; and now again, the names of Vishnu, or of Ganesha or the Sun god, his eyes filled with tears of joy. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he bathes in the sacred waters of the Ganga, now in water drawn up from a well. Now he bathes in the waters of ponds, now in warm water and yet again now, in water that is cold. He covers his body with ashes white as camphor. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he is awake, and deals expertly with objects of the senses, and now he is in dreams and enjoys the objects of the dream. And at yet again now he is in sleep, enjoying the perpetual bliss of that state. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now his robes are the ten directions, now he is clad in expensive clothes and now again, he wraps around his waist the skin of a lion. He is a man of control over his mind, and he gladdens the hearts of good people. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he is rooted in the satva guna, now he is deep in rajo-guna. Now he performs actions springing from tamas and now he is free of all the three of these gunas. He is a samsaree now, a man of the world, and now he walks on the paths of the Vedas. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he observes silence, now he is engaged in debates and discussions. Now he abandons all speech and explodes in spontaneous laughter, his natural joy filling his heart and now again he becomes an observer of the activities of the common people of the world. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he lovingly drops morsels of food from his mouth into the mouths of his female consorts [shaktis], and now he accepts them from their mouths into his own mouth, thus giving expression to the unity where the two do not exist, where the distinction has disappeared between what is what is one’s own and what belongs to another. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he is with the followers of Shiva, and now he is reveling among those who follow the path of Shakti. Now he is with the devotees of Vishnu and now, dwelling among those who worship the Sun god. And now he is again with the followers of Ganesha, himself devoid of all differences because of his experience of non-duality. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
Now he sees himself as the formless ultimate, now his auspicious form as myriad beautiful manifestations born of the mingling of different gunas in different ways. Now he again looks at himself and wonders at the mystery that he is, and now he is filled with joy. The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
And now he sees the One Without a Second, everything as nothing but the Truth, filled with Primal Sanctity, because of the realization born of the contemplation of the meaning of the great wisdom statements of the Vedas [mahavakyas]; and freed from the illusion of duality, he cries out ecstatically Shiva, Shiva, Shiva! The wise man, the sage, is not trapped in illusion, his ignorance dispelled by the power of his initiation by his teacher [for he knows in his heart that he is the witness to all this, the watcher who is not involved].
When a great man becomes blessed enough to attain to this state of liberation and establishes himself in the state of supreme Shiva, achievable through his noble karmas and through the grace of a glance from the eyes of the guru, and takes dips again and again in the lake of bliss that is one’s true nature, then the wise men say he is forever a yogi, a renouncer and a man of intuitive wisdom.
A silent one among the silent ones, virtuous among the virtuous, a scholar amidst scholars, suffering among the suffering, joyous amidst the joyful, a contented man in the company of the pleasure seeker because he has attained all pleasures, a fool in the company of fools, a youth when he is with young women, eloquent among men of eloquence – such a man is blessed indeed in his world, whoever he is, the one who is an avadhoota [saint free from attachments] amidst avadhootas. Image under license with Gettyimages.com |
||
Share This: | ||
23-Jun-2007 | ||
More by : Satya Chaitanya | ||
Views: 6226 Comments: 0 | ||
| ||
Top | Spirituality |
|