The Zen mysteries

The sutra:

BELOVED OSHO,
A MONK ASKED CHORO, WHO HAD BEEN A DISCIPLE OF TANKA,

”THE BUDDHAS OF THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE TURN THE GREAT WHEEL OF DHARMA IN FLAMES OF FIRE – IS IT CORRECT OR NOT?”
CHORO SAID, LAUGHING,

”I HAVE DOUBTS, AFTER ALL.”

THE MONK ASKED, ”WHY DO YOU DOUBT?”
CHORO SAID,

”THE FRAGRANCE OF WILDFLOWERS FILLS THE PATHWAYS, BUT THE HIDDEN BIRDS DON’T KNOW IT IS SPRING. IS THERE ANYONE WHO IS NOT DEFILED BY MYSTIC WONDER?”

AFTER A LONG SILENCE, CHORO CONCLUDED,

”THIS ONE SPOT COULD NOT BE WASHED AWAY EVEN IF YOU DUMPED THE WATERS OF THE OCEANS ON IT.”

It is a very beautiful sutra. It shows how humanity goes on missing: it turns symbols into facts, and then it lives in those fictions which have been only symbols. For example, this sutra is said repeatedly by Gautam Buddha: ”The awakened one moves the wheel of dharma in flames of fire.”

But Choro is right when he says laughing, ”I have doubts about it.” This man is taking the metaphor as if it were factual – there is no wheel, and there is no fire.

On the contrary, CHORO SAID, ”THE FRAGRANCE OF WILDFLOWERS FILLS THE PATHWAYS, BUT THE HIDDEN BIRDS DON’T KNOW IT IS SPRING.”

For a buddha it is always spring.
For a buddha even fire becomes cool.
For a buddha even the darkness of the night is a light, because he himself is light; wherever he moves his light surrounds him.

Choro is right when he says, ”I have doubts about it – this statement of moving the wheel of dharma in flames of fire.” Buddha has used that symbol, but his context has to be remembered.
Just a few minutes ago, I was telling you about the difficulty of enlightenment in a world which is absolutely unconscious. This is the fire. And to move the wheel of birth and death... That is the whole work of the awakened master – to make you aware that you have never been born, and to make you aware that you will never die.

Birth and death are only episodes in an eternal existence.
This wheel of birth and death – you have to jump out of it. And certainly, because of the unconsciousness of the people, you will have to face fire. But it is only symbolic.
Inside, you will find the fragrance of wildflowers.
Inside, you will find for the first time, the eternal juices of life.
Inside, you will find that the spring has come, and a spring that is not going away; it is your very nature.

These roses will go on growing in you. This fragrance will go on becoming more and more deep, more and more mysterious.

Choro is right. He is trying to help the monk not to get caught into a metaphor. The metaphor has its own context and its own meaning. But out of context, one can become worried: if enlightenment is moving a wheel in the flames of fire, then why unnecessarily get into such trouble? What is the point of moving the wheel of life and death? And in fire?
Life is already too much misery. If you take this symbol without understanding its context, it will look like enlightenment is inviting more misery. That’s why Choro laughed and he said, ”I have doubts.”

He is not saying he has doubts about Buddha, he is saying, ”I have doubts about your understanding.”

As far as Choro is concerned, ”THE FRAGRANCE OF WILDFLOWERS FILLS THE PATHWAYS, BUT THE HIDDEN BIRDS DON’T KNOW IT IS SPRING.” Only the awakened bird knows that the spring has come – the moment to dance, the moment to rejoice, the moment to experience the eternity of being. Choro has made a very significant statement. ”IS THERE ANYONE WHO IS NOT DEFILED BY MYSTIC WONDER?” Only the dead are not defiled by mystic wonder. The more alive you are, the more you see wonders everywhere, all around you. The whole of life is such a mystery and such a blessing. The path is full of roses and no thorns.
AFTER A LONG SILENCE, CHORO CONCLUDED, ”THIS ONE SPOT...”
He means by ”this one spot,” the wonder, the experience of the mysterious.

”THIS ONE SPOT COULD NOT BE WASHED AWAY EVEN IF YOU DUMPED THE WATERS OF THE OCEANS ON IT.”

The man of Zen is a man who lives in mysteries. To him everything is mysterious. Nothing is to be taken for granted, everything is a miracle.
Life is a miracle, the songs of the birds are miracles, the flowers with so many colors... This whole existence, if your inner being is awake, becomes an unending series of mysteries.

Kyorai wrote:
IN THE THIN LIGHT AFTER SUNSET,
HE CLIMBS TO THE TEMPLE
AT THE SUMMIT.

In the East, two times have been thought to be mysterious, and when you are closer to the mystery of existence than any other time. In the early morning when the sun has not risen and the last star has disappeared – that light is cool because the sun is not present and the night is gone. That small interval is called in India, sandhya. It exactly means interval. In that space, meditation is easier.

And the same happens again at sunset. When the sun is setting and the night has not come yet, that interval again is a good moment to meditate. You will be surprised to know that because of these sandhyas, intervals, in India, prayer has been given the name sandhya.
My own feeling is that when the night is gone, your life is refreshed. When the sun has not risen, existence is more relaxed around you, the affairs of the day have not started yet. Sitting silently in this interval, you can enter into yourself more easily than at any other time. Hence, morning and evening have become traditionally times for prayer.

Kyorai wrote:
IN THE THIN LIGHT AFTER SUNSET,
HE CLIMBS TO THE TEMPLE
AT THE SUMMIT.

In the thin light when the sun is no more, his awareness reaches to the highest summit of the temple.

But that does not mean that you cannot meditate at any other time. It is just in India that these two moments have been thought to be very available – existence is closer to you, just a little look inwards...

But there are other mystics, for example, the Sufis, who have found the middle of the night to be the most vulnerable point to enter into the mysterious. They are also right.
In the middle of the night when everybody is asleep, when even trees are asleep and birds are asleep, and the whole world is silent, you can wake up and just sit in that silence. You will find it easier to enter into yourself.

But if you know the method of how to enter into yourself, you can enter at any moment. Even in the marketplace, doing your ordinary work, you can remain meditative. There is no need to choose particular moments. This moment is as capable of revealing the reality to you as any other moment.

Osho
The Zen Manifesto: Freedom From Oneself,
Ch# 9 - Small intervals of light
pm in Gautam the Buddha Auditorium