Once upon a time, an angel came
to earth to see man and his world, because he had heard so many stories of man's splendor that he
could not resist his curiosity. The beauty of the world overwhelmed him: the sunlit mountain peaks and
dark forests, the whining winds and tossing, rainbow-colored valleys, the dew-kissed soil, the soil's lusty
smell, the animals, fierce and gentle. Everywhere there was such beauty. But when the angel saw man he was
awed, for he heard the music of the human heart and the song of the human soul. He fell in deep love with
human mystery. Dusk came, but he lingered on. Man and man's earth had so moved the angel that he hesitated
to leave. But finally, his time finished, he had to go with tears in his eyes.
And tremendously encircled,
enriched by this adventure on the earth, by this experience, before going out, before going back to his own
world, just out of sheer joy he wanted to help some of us on our way. He looked about, saw four persons
walking together. He approached them and said, "I have come to grant you each one wish." As luck
would have it, they all were spiritual aspirants.
The first one spoke up, "I
have striven incessantly after distant divine truth -- nothing but struggle, struggle, struggle. Give me
spiritual peace!"
"But struggling is one of
the joys of life," said the angel, not understanding the first seeker's
wish.
"I would like peace!"
insisted the man.
This being his wish, the angel
changed the youth into a cow that chewed the grass of a distant pasture
quite contentedly.
A bit disturbed, the angel turned
to the other aspirant.
"God is pure but I am
not," said the other. "Please rid me of all impurities, of passions,
emotions, desires."
"Are not they the very fount
of life?" asked the angel.
"But I don't want life, I
want purity!" insisted the second man. He then closed his eyes and waited
for his transformation. In a split second
he disappeared, and in a faraway temple, a marble statue appeared in his likeness.
Then the third one said,
"Make me perfect; anything less will simply not do." He vanished but
did not
reappear anywhere, for nothing on
earth is perfect or can be perfect.
The angel turned to the fourth,
"And what is your wish?"
"I have no wish,"
replied this happy man.
"No wish at all?"
"None -- except to be human,
fully human and alive."
A near-smothered joy began again
to stir within the angel. He looked longingly upon this blessed man, and then leaned over and embraced
him with a deep love. The fourth man continued on his way singing the glory of life, dancing the joy of
life.
Two monks were coming back to the monastery; they had gone into the village to preach. It was evening, the sun was setting; soon it would be night. They came across a river. A young woman, a beautiful woman, was standing there on the bank hesitating whether to enter the river or not: it may be too deep, it appears very deep.
The first monk -- the older one -- followed the Buddhist rule not to look at a woman. But that is a very strange rule: first you have to look, then only will you be able to see whether she is a woman or not. You can follow the rule only by breaking it! So he must have looked -- of course a stolen look -- and then he must have looked down. The Buddhist rule is: Don't look more than four feet ahead. Such fear... and he must have been trembling inside. And he crossed the river.
When he was crossing the river and was reaching the other shore, suddenly he remembered his younger fellow monk, who was also coming behind. What has happened to him? He looked back. The younger monk was carrying the woman on his shoulders! The older one was really enraged; in his rage there must have been jealousy also; otherwise why be angry?
The younger one brought the girl to the other shore, left her there, and both the monks moved towards the monastery. For one mile the old man didn't say a single word. Then, when they reached to the gate of the monastery, the old man turned to the younger monk and said, "Listen, I will have to report it to the abbot.
This is against the rules. Buddha has said: Don't touch a woman, don't look at a woman. You have not only seen her, you have not only touched her, you have carried her on your shoulders. This is too much! This is going against the law."
I don't think that Buddha has said that. A man like Buddha cannot say such nonsense things. But twenty-five centuries of stupid interpreters have done as much harm as they can do.
The young monk said, "But I have left the woman on the bank, far behind. Are you still carrying her on your shoulders?"
A great master, Nagarjuna, was asked by a great thief.... The thief was well known over the whole kingdom and he was so clever, so intelligent that he had never been caught.
Everybody knew -- he had even stolen from the king's treasury, many times -- but they were unable to catch him.
He was very elusive, a master artist.
He asked Nagarjuna, "Can you help me? Can I get rid of my stealing? Can I also become as silent and blissful as you are?" It happened in a certain context.
Nagarjuna was the greatest alchemist that the East has given birth to. He used to live naked, with just a begging bowl, a wooden begging bowl, but kings worshipped him, queens worshipped him.
He came to the capital and the queen touched his feet and said, "I feel very much offended by your wooden bowl. You are a master of masters; hundreds of kings and queens are your followers. I have prepared a golden bowl for you, studded with beautiful diamonds, emeralds. Please don't reject it -- it will wound me very much, it will hurt me very much. For three years great artists have been working on it, now it is ready."
She was afraid that Nagarjuna might say, "I cannot touch gold, I have renounced the world." But Nagarjuna did not say anything like that; he said, "Okay! You can keep my begging bowl, give me the golden one."
Even the queen was a little shocked. She was thinking that Nagarjuna would say, "I cannot accept it."
She wanted him to accept it, but still, deep in her unconscious somewhere was the old Indian tradition that the awakened one has to live in poverty, in discomfort, as if discomfort and poverty have something spiritual in them. There is nothing spiritual in them.
Nagarjuna said okay. He didn't even look at the golden bowl. He went away. The thief saw Nagarjuna moving outside the capital, because he was staying in a ruined temple on the other bank of the river. The thief said, "Such a precious thing I have never seen -- so many diamonds, so many emeralds, so much gold. I have seen many beautiful things in my life but never such a thing, and how did this naked man get hold of it, and how is he going to protect it? Anybody will be able to take it away from him, so why not me?"
The thief followed Nagarjuna. Nagarjuna heard his footsteps, he knew somebody was coming behind him. Nagarjuna reached the temple. The temple was an absolute ruin, no roof, no doors; just a few walls were left. He went inside a room without a roof, without a door, without windows.
The thief said, "How is he going to protect such a precious thing? It is only a question of hours." He sat outside the window, hiding behind a wall.
Nagarjuna threw the bowl outside the window. The thief was very much puzzled. The bowl fell just near his feet. He was puzzled: "What has this man done?" He could not believe his eyes, he was also shocked. He stood up -- even though he was a thief, he was a master thief and he had some dignity.
He thanked Nagarjuna.
He said, "Sir, I have to show my gratitude. But you are a rare man -- throwing out such a precious thing as if it is nothing. Can I come inside and touch your feet?"
Nagarjuna said, "Come in! In fact I have thrown the bowl out so that you could come in."
The thief could not understand what he was saying; he came in, he looked at Nagarjuna -- his silence, his peace, his bliss -- he was overwhelmed. He said, "I feel jealous of you. I have never come across a man like you. Compared to you, all others are subhuman beings. How integrated you are! How gone beyond the world! Is there any possibility for me too one day to attain such integration, such individuality, such compassion and such nonattachment to things?"
Nagarjuna said, "It is possible. It is everybody's potential."
But the thief said, "Wait! Let me tell you one thing. I have been many times to many saints and they all know me and they say, 'First you stop stealing, then anything else is possible. Without stopping stealing you cannot grow spiritually.' So please don't make that condition because that I cannot do. It is impossible. I have tried and I have failed many times. It seems that is my nature -- I have to go on stealing, so don't mention that. Let me tell you first so you don't make it a condition."
Nagarjuna said, "That simply shows you have never seen a saint before. Those must have all been ex-thieves; otherwise why should they be worried about your stealing? Go on stealing and do everything as skillfully as possible. It is good to be a master of any art."
The thief was shocked even more: "What kind of man is this?" And he said, "Then what do you suggest? What is right, what is wrong?"
He said, "I don't say anything is right or anything is wrong. Do one thing: if you want to steal, steal -- but steal consciously. Go tonight, enter into the house very alert, open the doors, the locks, but very consciously. And then if you can steal, steal, but remain conscious. And report to me after seven days."
After seven days the thief came, bowed down, touched Nagarjuna's feet and said, "Now initiate me into sannyas."
Nagarjuna said, "Why? What about your stealing?"
He said, "You are a cunning fellow! I tried my best: if I am conscious, I cannot steal; if I steal I am unconscious. I can steal only when I am unconscious. When I am conscious the whole thing seems so stupid, so meaningless. What am I doing? For what? Tomorrow I may die. And why do I go on accumulating wealth? I have more than I need; even for generations it is enough. It looks so meaningless that I stop immediately. For seven days I have entered into houses and come out empty-handed. And to be conscious is so beautiful. I have tasted it for the first time, and it is just a small taste -- now I can conceive how much you must be enjoying, how much you must be celebrating. Now I know that you are the real king -- naked, but you are the real king. Now I know that you have real gold and we are playing with false gold."
The thief became a disciple of Nagarjuna and attained to buddhahood.
