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Post by Smithee on Jun 30, 2012 15:34:50 GMT 10
The Governor resigned his exalted office and came to the Master demanding to be taught.
"What is it you wish me to teach you?" said the Master.
"Wisdom," was the reply.
"Ah, my friend! How gladly would I do that were it not for one major obstacle."
"What?"
"Wisdom can't be taught."
"So there's nothing I can learn here."
"Wisdom can be learnt. But it can't be taught."
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Post by Smithee on Jul 1, 2012 17:15:09 GMT 10
“Allow me to explain the Good News my religion proclaims,” said the preacher.
The Master was all attention.
“God is love. And He loves and rewards us forever if we observe His commandments.”
“IF?” said the Master, “Then the news isn’t all that good, is it?”
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Post by Smithee on Jul 2, 2012 10:43:58 GMT 10
The Master and a disciple came upon a blind man sitting on the sidewalk begging.
Said the Master, “Give the man an alms.”
The disciple dropped a coin in the beggars’s hat.
Said the Master, “You should have touched your hat as a mark of respect.”
“Why?” asked the disciple.
“One always should when one gives an alms.”
“But the man was blind.”
“You never know,” said the Master. “He may have been a fraud.”
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Post by Smithee on Jul 3, 2012 11:02:09 GMT 10
The Master claimed that it made no sense at all to define oneself as Indian, Chinese, African , American, Hindu, Christian or Moslem for these are merely labels.
To a disciple who claimed he was Jewish first, last and above all else, the Master said benignly, “Your conditioning is Jewish, not your identity.”
“What’s my identity?”
“Nothing,” said the Master.
“You mean I am an emptiness and a void?” said the incredulous disciple.
“Nothing that can be labelled,” said the Master.
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Post by Smithee on Jul 4, 2012 11:00:12 GMT 10
An art writer was giving a lecture at the monastery.
“Art is found in a museum,” he said, “but beauty is found everywhere, in the air, on the ground, all over the place, free for the taking – with no name attached to it.”
“Exactly like spirituality,” said the Master the following day when he was alone with his disciples. “It’s symbols are found in the museum called a temple, but its substance is everywhere, free for the taking, unrecognized, with no name attached to it.”
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Post by Smithee on Jul 5, 2012 12:08:41 GMT 10
The Master was certainly not a stickler for etiquette and good manners but there was always a natural courtesy and grace in his dealings with others.
A young disciple was once very rude to a traffic policeman as he drove the Master home one night. In self-defence he said, "I'd rather be myself and let people know exactly how I feel. Politeness is nothing but a lot of hot air."
"True enough," said the Master pleasantly, "but that's what we have in our automobile tyres and see how it eases the bumps."
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Post by Smithee on Jul 6, 2012 9:38:10 GMT 10
The father of one of the disciples stormed into the lecture hall where the Master was holding forth.
Ignoring everyone present he yelled at his daughter, "You have abandoned a university career to sit at the feet of this fool! What has he taught you?"
She stood up, calmly drew her father outside and said, "Being with him has taught me what no university ever could - not to fear you and not to be embarrassed by your disgraceful behaviour."
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Post by Smithee on Jul 7, 2012 11:14:52 GMT 10
Visitors were always struck by the Master’s leisurely manner.
“I just don’t have the time to be in a hurry,” he would say.
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Post by Smithee on Jul 8, 2012 10:34:34 GMT 10
"What, concretely, is Enlightenment?"
"Seeing reality as it is," said the Master.
"Doesn't everyone see reality as it is?"
"Oh, no! Most people see it as they think it is."
"What's the difference?"
"The difference between thinking you are drowning in a stormy sea - and knowing you cannot drown because there isn't any water in sight for miles around."
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Post by Smithee on Jul 9, 2012 18:12:05 GMT 10
“My parents told me to beware of you,” said a newcomer. The Master smiled. “Beware, my dear, be very, very careful and you will meet the fate of your cautious parents - nothing very good or bad will ever happen to you.”
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