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Need Reminding Only Once!
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You
only have to be reminded once of who you are. You do not have to do
anything. You do not have to read any book or listen to any cassettes
or tapes. Just a reminder or even overhearing is enough.
I will tell you a
story about a baby child. There was a king who was fond of hunting
game. One day the queen also insisted on accompanying the king for
the hunt. She decided to take her baby boy along with her also, and
they started out. In the evening they pitched a tent in the forest
so they could go out in the night, riding on an elephant to find some
game. Generally hunting is done at night because all the animals go
out for food then. The young prince was kept under the care of nurses
and sentries were posted outside the tent. So the king and queen and
all their retinue went out the whole night hunting for game and returned
to the tent at about ten next morning. The queen found that her son
was missing.
In the night the
nurses and the guards had fallen asleep. The boy had woken up, and
not finding his mama lying next to him he had walked out of the tent
and deeper and deeper into the forest in search of his mama, the queen.
The queen came back
and felt very sad. Everyone was exhausted; they had not slept the
whole night. But she said she would not even eat breakfast until she
had seen her son again. Some said that he had been eaten by a wolf
or a hyena, but the queen said that there would be marks of blood
inside the tent or nearby. A search was mounted to find the bones.
The queen said that if the bones were produced she could be sure that
her son had been killed by a wild animal and she would accept the
situation. They looked all around the tent for a mile in all directions
but they did not find any trace of blood stains. They had to return
to the capital, but the king decided to send search parties in all
four directions throughout the country and instructed them not to
return until they found the boy, or at least a clue as to his fate.
The parties were dispatched to console the queen. Months and years
passed.
The boy was only
three or four years old when he wandered into the forest dressed only
in his underwear. A potter who lived on the farther side of the forest
was collecting clay to make his pots and found the boy crying. His
family had no child so they were very happy to find this child, a
gift from gods - very handsome boy. They brought him home, gave him
a bath and food and new clothes. The boy grew up with his new family,
helping his foster father by collecting clay and bringing it home
to help the family make the pots.
Twelve years passed
and the teams of police were still searching for the prince. One search
party was very thirsty so they stopped at a well where this boy was
collecting water to take home to his family. The policemen saw the
boy with a bucket and asked him for a drink. He gave them a cup of
water and they were thankful.
"What is your name?" they asked the boy. "My
name is Junglee." he replied. Junglee means forester in Hindi.
The family gave him this name because they found him in the jungle.
The police were very
shrewd. They asked him, "This is very rare name. We have never
heard of anyone with the name Junglee before. Who are your parents?"
"Our house is over there. We make pots. My parents are
at home," replied the boy. That was all he could say - he had
forgotten all about his past. They were very suspicious about this
boy's name. They wanted to see his parents and find out why they named
him Junglee. Seeing the police party the parents became very afraid. They asked the father, "Who is this boy?" "He is our son," came the reply.
"Is he your
son? When did you beget him?" they asked.
So the potter told his story: "About 12 years ago I was
walking to the forest to fetch some clay and this boy was crying.
I brought him home and for the last 12 years he has been with us.
He is not our son but we have brought him up with great love and care
because we didn't have a child of our own." So the policemen
explained what had happened and who this child was, and the boy could
overhear the entire conversation. Finally the police told the boy
to come with them and they would take him to the king.
The foster father was only crying out in fear, "It is
not our fault, it's not our fault. We have found the boy."
At that point a party
of boys arrived to call Junglee for a game which they had all left
unfinished from the night before. "Come, Junglee. Come to finish
the game we did not finish last night."
This boy had only overheard what the police had said to his
father. "Do you know that he is the prince?" They had said,
"He is the prince. Come with us and you will be rewarded. You
have no reason to fear." The boy only overheard the conversation,
that is all, but he turned to his friends who were calling him to
play and told them, "Shut up! I'll have you arrested by my police!
Keep quiet or I'll have you arrested!" He became the prince by
simply overhearing what had been said. He did not mediate to become
a prince nor did he read any sutra or any book. He simply overheard
the truth of his situation from an authority and immediately he became
the prince.
Once you hear from
an authority that you are That, it is quite enough. You do
not need anything more. Overhearing the words of an authorized source
is enough to know the truth. But not all who hear the truth respond
in the same way. Some are very sharp witted - they are like camphor
touching a flame. All is over, nothing is left. They belong to a very
superior quality of seeker - in going to the teacher, once they touch
the word and the ego is destroyed like camphor.
Others are like firewood
- they will also be gradually consumed. They belong to a second type
of person, a middle quality. The third type also touches the fire
and they take some time to burn and to become fire itself. Those are
the ones who are postponing, taking their time. They will also become
the flame itself but it will take some time because they are busy
deciding. They are like children who make sand castles on the beach
and get lost in their play till the high tide comes. Some wise children
see that their mother is waiting and kick over what they have built
with double pleasure and meet their mother before the high tide comes.
Everything will be swept away by the high tide. Before it comes it
is better to return home, your mother is calling. The third type is
that category which does not move - they are like stone. If you put
a stone in the fire nothing will happen. The stone will remain a stone
- there will be no ignition.
There are these three
categories, and all three categories are represented here in this
satsang, and in the world: tamasic, rajasic, and sattvic.
All need to be free. Some have a burning desire of freedom - they
need to meet a teacher only once. A perfect teacher and a perfect
longing for freedom is all that is needed. Some who come to see me
here say, "I have it! I got it! But now I cannot decide whether
to leave you or whether to stay longer to stabilize what I have got."
There is no question of stabilization here. One glimpse of atman
is enough to give you light. One glimpse is more than enough.
A small window is
enough to allow the rays of the sun to come into the room. A small
hole is enough to allow you to expose your face to the sun. That light
is quite enough to bring you home. Some people wait here and say they
might lose what they have gained. I tell them that you will surely
lose what has been gained. But how can you lose anything which you
have not gained? When you have nothing in your pocket how can you
lose it? You do not have to gain anything. You have come to lose all
the burdens that you have been carrying on your shoulders since 35
million years.
There were once two
teachers in China with ashrams about 500 miles apart. People used
to travel from one ashram to the other. One teacher was preaching
that it was necessary first to purify the mind like a mirror - to
wipe the dust from the mirror so that you could see your face clearly.
He had a great following. His students all got involved in cleaning
the mirror for their whole lifetime. The other teacher on the other
side of the mountains had a very different teaching. He did not say
anything about any mirror to be cleaned. The first teacher did not
understand: If the mirror is not cleaned, if there is dust on the
mirror, if there are weeds in the lake, how can you see your own reflection?
So he sent one of his closest students who was supposed to have grasped
the teaching, to go and find out what the other teacher was teaching.
He had full confidence in this student. The man arrived in the other
monastery.
The disciples of
the second teacher came to the master. "Some people say this
man is a very confident student, number one after the teacher. The
teacher has sent him here to steal your teachings." The master
came to know about it so he called the man. A master has to speak
to everyone, whoever comes.
The master asked
this man: "Are you a spy?"
"Yes, Master, I came as a spy. I was sent by my master,"
replied the man. "But staying here with you I am no longer a
spy of my master; I am your student, bless me. My master does not
teach this teaching. He only says, 'Go on rubbing the mirror.’ Now
you tell me there is no mirror and no dust to alight on it. How simple!
When there is no mirror where is the dust going to alight? This is
a very beautiful teaching. Master, I am going to stay with you - please
accept me. But first please allow me one thing. My master is very
beloved to me. I spent eighteen years with him. I am very grateful
to him. I have some responsibility, some gratitude, some duty to pay
off this debt. So let me go and give this teaching to my teacher."
The master said "Okay, you can go, you can go." So the student
returned to his old teacher.
"What is the
teaching that he gives?" he was asked.
"No teaching! No teaching! There are so many mirrors we
have been trying to clean. They will never be clean. When there is
a mirror there will always be dust to alight. This master asked me,
'When there is no mirror where is the dust going to alight?' Come
with me, Master! He is a very beautiful teacher with no teaching at
all!" The teacher and all his students came to see this master
with no teaching.
We are here for Freedom.
Our aim is freedom but we get lost in sadhanas, practices, yoga methods
and reading books. Why did you come here? What was the purpose of
wearing this human body which so precious among 8.4 million species,
the highest temple? Once in 35 million years you wear this beautiful
form - don't waste it. You only need to be reminded like this prince,
and you are the prince. You have been saying, “I am the body, I am
the mind, I am the ego, I am the senses, I have objects to enjoy.”
With this burden how can you face your own nature, how can you get
on the throne? How can sit on the throne of the emperor if you have
forgotten who you are? You have to be reminded; you do not need to
perform any practices.
We speak here of
Existence, Consciousness, Bliss. When are you not that? When was the
time when you were not that? When will the time come when you will
not be that? How can you lose Existence itself? How can you lose Consciousness?
How can you lose Bliss? You have been lost somewhere else so you do
not know who you really are. 19 May, 1992
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