Mulla Nasruddin去世了，他敲开天堂的门。圣.彼得打开门，看着Nasruddin说，“今天我并没有在等任何人，在我的预约单里一个名字都没有，今天没人来，但你……？我很惊讶，你怎么会来这？大声说你的名字，一个字母一个字母地拼，这样我会查的准一点。”于是Nasruddin大声地拼出他的名字：“M-U-L-L-A N-A-S-R-U-D-D-I-N。”圣.彼得进去看着名单，但今天确实没人要来。他走出来说，“你不是要在今天来的，你还有十年寿期，告诉我，你的医生是谁？”
医生可以在你到寿之前就弄死你，那些善行家会在你寿期到来之前就杀掉你，行善的人总是危险的。但你们都在以自己的方式做好事，或大或小。每个人都想改变别人，因为每个人都觉得别人不好，每个人都想改变世界。这就是一个政治头脑与宗教头脑的区别。
一个zhengzhi头脑总是想改变世界，因为他无法看到自己的错——整个世界都是错的。如果他错了，那也是因为全世界都错了，而整个情况如此糟糕。错是必须的，否则他就是圣人了。一个宗教人士刚好是从另一面来看的，他会想，“是我不对，那就是为什么这个世界是错的，因为我助纣为虐，透过我世界倒错了。除非我改变自己，否则世界不会改变。”
zhengke是从世界开始，但他永远不会实现任何目标，因为世界如此之大——而且世界不是问题。他制造了更多问题：透过他的药，出现了很多本不存在的疾病，他的努力制造了更多痛苦。宗教人士改变自己，他只改变自己，因为只有这一件事是可能的。
你只能改变你自己，当你改变的那一刻，世界就开始改变了，因为你是它至关重要的一个部分。当你觉醒——改变，完全地改变——你就变得更为不可或缺，现在你拥有无上的能量。佛佗只是坐在菩提树下就改变了世界，世界永远不会再和佛佗之前一样了。
椰酥被送上了十字架，但这成为一个标志：那一天成了历史的分水岭，历史永远不会再和之前一样了。所以，我们以椰酥的名义来纪年是好的：我们说“基督之前”，“基督之后”。这是好的，因为在基督到来之前是一个完全不同的人类，在基督之后一个完全不同的人类进入了存在。这个现象是无与伦比的，每当有一个基督出现，每当有一个意识提升到与椰酥的意识一样高，所有其它的意识都会同时被影响。他们全都得到了提升，他们也会拥有一个瞥见——他们再也不一样了，再也不是过去那个层次了。
一个宗教人士只是改变他自己，但只有当你去看那个改变才有可能，只有当你放下虚构那个改变才有可能。如果你领悟到你不是谁，如果你领悟到你什么都没有，如果你领悟了这个不真实的生命，那么它立刻就会被丢弃。
知识就是革命——不是你透过头脑收集的知识，而是当你面对自己时所拥有的领悟。
了解自己是一个蜕变的力量，什么都不需要做。这一点必须要了解：人们以为，“首先我们得了解，然后再改变。”不！当你了解的那一刻，改变就发生了。了解本身就是改变，并不是说你必须先了解然后再做点什么去改变。了解不是一个方法，不是一个手段，了解就是它本身的目的。
但当我使用“了解”这个词我指的就是了解自己。所有其它的了解都是方法：首先，你必须了解怎么了解，然后你必须做些什么。但了解自己的品质是完全不同的：你了解了，在那个了解当中你就改变了。
丢掉虚构，鼓足勇气去了解自己。放下恐惧，不要试图逃避自己！
椰酥说：当你的眼里放射出光芒，你就能清楚地看到……只有当虚构被放下。你眼里的光束已经变成烟雾浮云，你无法清晰地看，无法清晰地看任何事，一切都模糊不清。当光束从你的眼中射出，你就能清晰地看。清晰必须成为目标——只要眼睛清澈你就能直接去看，穿透事实的真相，不必制造任何投射。但这很难，因为你已经非常地机械化，自动化。
你看着一朵花，立刻你的头脑就开始唠叨：“一朵美丽的花，以前从来没见过。”一些诗句会浮现，当然，都是借来的。花朵被错过了，清晰不存在。文字遮蔽了现实——你不能不去命名只是看着一朵花吗？名字有那么重要吗？给一朵花命个名有什么帮助呢？你得到一些植物学知识会让花朵更漂亮吗？那就是植物学家与诗人的区别：植物学家知道的是关于花朵，诗人知道花朵。植物学家是纯粹的无知——他知道很多，但都是关于关于——诗人只是看。
梵文中只有一个词来表达看的人和诗人。不是两个词，因为他们说，每当有一个真正的诗人，他就是一个能看的人，每当有一个能看的人，他一定是一个诗人。清晰——那么生命会变成一首诗。但你必须只是看花，而不是给它命名——这是玫瑰还是其它什么？
为什么需要语言？为什么你要说，“真漂亮”？你不能不说就只是看着那个美吗？有必要一遍一遍说它真漂亮吗？重复说这些意味着什么？意味着花朵是不够的，你需要一个提议，说它漂亮，那么那个美就是你赋予它的。你没有看见花，花只是一个屏幕，你在它上面投射了美。
看花，什么也不要说。这会很难，头脑会不自在，因为它已经习惯了。它一直在不停地絮叨。看着花，静心。看着树，不要给它冠名，什么都不要说。不需要，树在那里——还有什么好说的？
我听说：老子，中国最伟大的神秘家之一，每天清晨都去散步。一个邻居跟他一起，那个邻居知道老子是一个安静的人，所以很多年来他早上跟着他一起散步但一句话都没说过。有一天邻居家来了一位客人，他也想去。邻居说，“什么都不要说，老子活的是当下生命，一句话都不要说！”
他们出去了，清晨是如此的美，如此安宁，鸟儿在唱着歌，只是出于习惯客人说了一句，“多美啊！”就这一句，没别的了。一个小时的散步，就这一句不算多：“多美啊！”但老子看着他，就像他犯了罪。
回到家，进了门，老子对邻居说，“再也不要来，也不要再带任何人来——这个人话太多。”而他只说了一句，“多美啊！”——话太多。老子说，“早晨很美好，如此安宁，这个人惊扰了这一切。”
“多美啊！”就像一块石头掉进了一个宁静的池塘。“多美啊！”这块掉进池塘里的石头使得宁静的池塘涟渏四起。
坐在树下静心，与星星、河流、海洋一起静心，在闹市中与过往的人静心。什么都不要说，不要评判，不要使用语言——只是看。如果你能清晰地感知，如果你能获得看的清晰度，那就达成了。一旦你达成这种清晰，你就能看见自己。
了解自己发生于一个清晰的头脑，而不是一个装满知识的头脑，不是一个充满好与坏评判的头脑，不是一个充满美与丑的头脑，而是一个没有语言的头脑。了解自己发生于一个无言的头脑，永远如此。你只是需要一个清晰度去感知它，这样就能反映。你需要一个镜子一样的头脑，这样反映才有可能。一旦它发生，你就能帮助你的邻居了，在此之前是不可能的。
所以，不要给任何人建议！你所有的建议都是危险的，因为你并不知道你在干什么。不要试图改变任何人，哪怕是你的儿子，哪怕是你的兄弟。没有人需要你来改变他们，因为你是危险的。你会把他们搞残，你会扼杀他们，你会伤害他们，却无法帮助他们蜕变。除非你自己蜕变，否则不要涉入他人的生命。当你充满了光，你就能帮助他人。事实上，那时将不需要任何帮助他人的努力。帮助会透过你流向他人，就像光会透过电灯流泄而出，或者像是来自花朵的芬芳，或者就像夜晚闪耀的月亮——月亮无需任何努力，只是自然的流动。
有人问芭蕉，一位禅师，“说说你的讲法，你一直在讲的，之后又反着讲。你一直在讲的一种说法，在另一些讲法中又反过来说，说说这是怎么回事！”
芭蕉是怎么说的？芭蕉说，“别人说——我开花！”
不费力的时候就是在开花。那么它就像是一朵花在绽放，而不是努力地要去开。芭蕉说，佛佗说——毫不费力，只是发生！当佛佗讲法，它是一个自然的现象。当你在说，那不是一个自然的现象，它包含了其它的东西：你想要影响别人，你想要改变别人，你想控制、掌控别人，你想主宰别人，你想给别人一种印象，你是一个有知识的人——你在试图喂养自己的小我。有太多东西在里面了，你不是在开花。当你说话的时候那是一个政治游戏，有策略，有招术。
但当芭蕉说话的时候，他在开花。如果有别人在场，他是被祝福的——但祝福别人不是目的，祝福会毫不费力地发生。花朵不是为你开。如果你经过这条路，芬芳自然会洒落于你，你可以享受它，你会感觉到狂喜，你会感恩——但花朵从来不是为你而开，花朵就只是开花了。
佛佗开花了，椰酥开花了，整个世界都是被祝福的。但你一直在试图祝福别人却没有任何人得到祝福，反而受到伤害。如果少一些想要改变世界改造世界的人，这个世界会更好，他们只是在恶搞。所有的革命只是在制造伤害，所有的改革都导向更深的混乱。
H.Lawrence有一次曾建议，一百年内我们应该停止所有的革命，停掉所有的大学，所有的改革，也不要去谈论所有那些事，一百年内我们应该像原始人一样生活。这个建议是很美的。这样人类就能够再度活过来，能量会生起，人会获得清晰度。
语言遮蔽了一切，它们成了负担，你带着这么多知识，无法在天空中飞翔。负担如此之重，你无法轻盈，你的翅膀无法自由。而你却执著于这些监禁你限制你的东西，因为你以为它们是有价值的。它们毫无价值，不仅没有价值而且十分危险：语言、经典、知识、理论，各种“主义”——它们使你残废。清晰度无法透过它们获得，把所有的经典放在一边，把所有的评判都放在一边。
像个孩子一样一无所知地看着生命，只是看——那个看会给你新的洞见，那就是椰酥所说的，我再重复一次他的话：
你只看到兄弟眼里的尘埃，却看不到自己眼中的光芒。
当你的眼里放射出光芒，就能清晰地看到，你投射到兄弟眼里的尘埃。
只有这样才能有帮助。如果你成为自己的光，你就成为了别人的光。那就是开花，每个人都会被祝福——知道或不知道，但每个人都会得到祝福。你变成了一个祝福。
Mulla Nasruddin died. He knocked at the doors of heaven. Saint Peter opened the door, looked at Nasruddin and said, “But I am not expecting anybody today, because in my reservation list there is no name; nobody is to come today. So how…? You surprise me, how did you get here? Say your name loudly. Spell it, so I can check.” So Nasruddin spelled his name loudly: “M-U-L-L-A N-A-S-R-U-D-D-I-N.” Saint Peter went in and looked at his list, but there was nobody to come on that day. He came back and he said, “Say! You are not expected to come here today, you are not due for ten years yet. So tell me, who is your doctor?”
Doctors can kill you before your time; do-gooders can kill you before you are due, and do-gooders are always dangerous. But you are all do-gooders in your own ways, small or big. Everybody wants to change the other because everybody thinks the other is wrong; everybody wants to change the world. And this is the difference between a political mind and religious mind.
A political mind always wants to change the world because he cannot think that he is wrong – the whole world is wrong. If he is wrong, it is because the whole world is wrong and the whole situation is so wrong. It has to be wrong, otherwise he would be a saint. A religious person looks from precisely the other end. He thinks, “I am wrong, that is why the world is wrong, because I contribute to the evil in it. Through me the world is wrong. Unless I change myself, there can be no change.”
The politician starts from the world, but he never reaches any goal because the world is so big – and the world is not the problem. He creates more problems: through his medicine, many more diseases arise which were not there; through his efforts he creates more misery. A religious man changes himself. He only changes himself because that is the only thing that is possible.
You can only change yourself, and the moment you are changed the world starts changing, because you are a vital part in it. And when you are enlightened – changed, totally changed – you become more vital; you now have the supreme energy in you. A Buddha simply sits under his bodhi tree and the world is transformed. And the world will never again be the same as it was before Buddha.
A Jesus is crucified, but that becomes a mark: history is divided from that day, history will never again be the same as it was. So it is good that we acknowledge and divide the years in the name of Jesus: we say ‘before Christ’, ‘after Christ’. It is good, because before Christ a totally different humanity existed; after Christ a different humanity came into being. The phenomenon is so vital that whenever there is a Christ, whenever a consciousness rises as high as the consciousness of Jesus, all other consciousnesses are simultaneously affected. They also rise, they also have a glimpse – and they cannot be the same again, the same old level cannot be achieved.
A religious man simply transforms himself, but the transformation is possible only if you look; the transformation is possible only if you drop the fictions. If you come to realize your ‘nobodiness’, if you come to realize your nothingness, if you come to realize your inauthentic life, immediately it starts dropping.
Knowledge is revolution – not knowledge that you gather through the mind, but knowledge that you come to possess when you encounter yourself.
Self-knowledge is a transforming force, nothing else is to be done. This has to be understood: people think, “First we will know, and then we will change.” No! The moment you know, change occurs. Knowledge itself is transforming; it is not that first you know and then you do something to change. Knowledge is not a method, it is not a means; knowledge is the end in itself.
But when I use the word knowledge I mean self-knowledge. All other knowledge is a means: first you have to know the know-how and then you have to do something. But with self-knowledge the quality is absolutely different: you know, and the very knowing changes you.
Drop the fictions. Gather courage to know yourself. Drop the fear and don’t try to escape from yourself!
And Jesus says: WHEN THOU CASTEST THE BEAM OUT OF THINE EYE, THEN THOU WILT SEE CLEARLY… only when the fictions are dropped. They are the beam in your eye, they have become a mist, a smoke, a cloud in your eye. You cannot see clearly, you cannot see anything clearly, everything is blurred. When the beam is cast out from thine eye, you will see clearly. Clarity must be the goal – just clarity of the eyes so that you can look directly and penetrate to the fact without creating any projection around it. But this is very difficult because you have become so automatic in it, so mechanized.
You look at a flower and immediately your mind starts talking: “A beautiful flower, never seen before.” Some poetry, borrowed of course, arises. The flower is missed, the clarity is not there. Words blur – can’t you see a flower without naming it? Is naming a must? Is your naming the flower going to help in any way? Will the flower be more beautiful if you have the botanical knowledge about it? That is the difference between a botanist and a poet: a botanist knows about the flower, the poet knows the flower. The botanist is simply ignorant – he knows much but it is about and about – the poet sees.
In Sanskrit there is only one word for rishi and kavi, for the seer and the poet. There are not two words, because they say whenever there is a real poet he is a seer; whenever there is a seer he is a poet. Clarity – then life becomes poetry. But then you have to look at the flower without naming it – is it a rose or something else?
Why are words needed? Why do you say, “It is beautiful”? Can’t you see the beauty without speaking? Is it necessary to repeat that it is beautiful? What do you mean by repeating it? It means the flower is not enough; you need a suggestion that it is beautiful, then you can create beauty around it. You don’t see the flower, the flower is just a screen, you have to project beauty on it.
Look at the flower and don’t say anything. It will be difficult, the mind will feel uneasy because it has become habitual. It constantly goes on chattering. Look at the flower and make it a meditation. Look at the tree and don’t name it, don’t say anything. There is no need; the tree is there – why say anything?
I have heard it happened: Lao Tzu, one of the greatest Chinese mystics, used to go for a walk in the morning every day. A neighbor used to follow him, but the neighbor knew that Lao Tzu was a man of silence, so for years he followed him on the morning walk but he never said anything. One day there was a visitor at the neighbor’s house, a guest, and he also wanted to come. The neighbor said, “Don’t say anything, because Lao Tzu wants to live directly. Don’t say anything!”
They went out, and the morning was so beautiful, so silent, the birds were singing, and just out of habit the guest said, “How beautiful!” Just this much, nothing much; for a one hour walk, this is not very much: “How beautiful!” But Lao Tzu looked at him as if he had committed a sin.
Back home, going in his door, Lao Tzu said to the neighbor, “Never come again! And never bring anybody else – this man seems to be so talkative.” And he had only said, “How beautiful!” – too talkative. And Lao Tzu said, “The morning was beautiful, it was so silent. This man disturbed the whole thing.”
“How beautiful!” It fell like a stone in a silent pool. “How beautiful!” fell like a stone in a silent pool and the whole thing became rippled.
Meditate near a tree, meditate with the stars, with the river, with the ocean, meditate in the market with people passing. Don’t say anything, don’t judge, don’t use words – just look. If you can clear your perception, if you can attain a clarity of looking, everything is achieved. And once this clarity is achieved you will be able to see yourself.
Self-knowledge happens to a clear mind, not to a mind filled with knowledge, not to a mind filled with judgments of good and bad; not to a mind filled with beauty, ugliness, but to a mind that is without words. Self-knowledge happens to a wordless mind. It is always there, you only need a clarity of mind to perceive it so that it can be reflected; you need a mirrorlike mind so that the reflection becomes possible. Once this happens, then you can help your neighbor, never before.
So don’t advise anybody! All your advice is dangerous because you don’t know what you are doing. Don’t try to change anybody, not even your son, not even your brother. Nobody is in need of your change because you are dangerous. You can cripple, you can kill, you can maim, but you cannot help transformation. Unless you are transformed don’t move into another’s life. When you are filled with light you can help. Really, then there is no need to make any effort to help. Help flows from you just as light flows from a lamp, or fragrance comes out of a flower, or the moon shines in the night – no effort on the part of the moon, it just flows naturally.
Somebody asked Basho, a Zen master, “Say something about your lectures. You go on talking and still you talk against words. You go on talking, and in those talks you go on talking against words and against talking. So say something about it!”
What did Basho say? Basho said, “Others talk – I bloom!”
When there is no effort, then it is a blooming. Then it is just like a flower blooming, there is no effort to bloom. A Basho speaks, a Buddha speaks – no effort, it just happens! It is a natural phenomenon when Buddha is speaking. When you are speaking it is not a natural phenomenon, other things are involved: you want to impress the other, you want to change the other; you want to control, manipulate the other, you want to dominate the other; you want to give the impression that you are a man of knowledge – you want to feed your ego. Many other things are involved. You are not blooming. It is a great political game when you talk, there is a strategy in it, tactics.
But when a Basho talks, he blooms. If somebody is there, then he will be benefited – but to benefit the other is not the goal, the benefit can happen effortlessly. The flower does not bloom for you. If you pass by the path the fragrance will reach you; you can enjoy it, you can feel ecstatic, you can be grateful – but the flower never flowered for you, the flower simply flowered.
A Buddha blooms, a Jesus blooms, and the whole world is benefited. But you go on trying to benefit others and nobody is benefited, rather you do harm. The world would be better if there were less mischievous people around changing and transforming it. All the revolutions have simply done harm, and every reform has led into a deeper mess.
D.H.Lawrence once suggested that for a hundred years we should stop all revolutions, we should stop all universities, we should stop all reforms and all talk about them, and for a hundred years we should live like primitives. The suggestion is beautiful. Then humanity could come to be alive again, the energy could arise and people could attain to clarity.
Words have dimmed, they have become too burdensome, and you carry so much knowledge that you cannot fly in the sky. You are burdened so much that you are not weightless, your wings are not free. And you cling to the things that have become your prisons and bondages because you think they are very valuable. They are valueless things, and not only valueless but also dangerous to you: words, scriptures, knowledge, theories, ‘isms’- they all cripple you. Clarity cannot be attained through them. Put aside all scriptures, put aside all judgment.
Look at life like a child not knowing what he is looking at, just looking – and that looking will give you a new perception. That new perception is what Jesus is talking about. I will repeat the words:
THE MOTE THAT IS IN THY BROTHER’S EYE THOU SEEST, BUT THE BEAM THAT IS IN THINE EYE THOU SEEST NOT.WHEN THOU CASTEST THE BEAM OUT OF THINE EYE, THEN THOU WILT SEE CLEARLY TO CAST THE MOTE OUT OF THY BROTHER’S EYE.
Only that can be helpful. If you become a light unto yourself you become a light unto others. But that is a blooming, and everybody is benefited – knowingly, unknowingly, everybody is benefited. You become a blessing.End
玫瑰芬芳翻译