Words from the Master

I welcome you all with my love and respects.

You have all come here with some expectation, some hope, to enhance your knowledge; to get a new perspective of life; to see if you can live your life in a better way.

I want to tell you a few things before we get into the subject so that you can get the maximum benefit from your stay here.

You might have gone to many other places, listened to many other lectures, practised many other techniques before coming here. All that is alright. Just one thing: When you are here, just be totally here, that’s all.

Just leave behind all the knowledge that you have gathered earlier in other places and then come in here. You would have seen a board outside that said, ‘Leave your shoes and mind outside’. You might have wondered what it meant. It means: When you leave your shoes outside, just decide and leave your mind also. Just leave all your gathered knowledge next to your shoes and come in. You can take it back when you go out. Don’t worry about that! No one will take your mind away. It will be perfectly safe.

At least your shoes, people might take, but your mind, people will not touch; I will guarantee you that! People are unable to handle their own minds; they will surely not touch and experiment with yours!

When you come in with an empty mind, with no prejudice, you can absorb what I am saying in its totality. If you come in with your knowledge, you will be constantly comparing every word of mine with what you know about it, with what you have heard about it from someone else earlier, and you will simply miss what I am trying to tell. You can absorb me only if there is some space in you to take me in. If you are already full, you cannot take me in.

A small story:

A learned professor from the West went to meet a Zen Master in the East, in Japan.
The professor was very learned and had done a lot of research in many areas of study. He went to meet the Master to acquire some spiritual knowledge, to discuss various issues with him, to understand spirituality in a better fashion.

He arrived at the Master’s place and found the Master brewing tea.

The Master saw him and gestured for him to sit and continued to brew the tea.

The professor sat down and after a while, started talking of his background, of all his studies, his discoveries, his travels all over the world, his experiences with different people, his conclusions on various subjects and what not.

The Master finished brewing the tea and placed two cups between them.

He began pouring tea into the professor’s cup. He poured and poured and slowly the cup started overflowing. The tea spilt over the saucer and flowed onto the table.
The professor was watching what was happening. He could not contain himself any more. He screamed out, “Master, what are you doing? Stop pouring! The cup is overflowing!”

The Master stopped and calmly said, “So are you.”

The professor was shocked but understood what the Master was trying to tell him.

The professor was so full like the teacup that could not hold any more tea. Anything that the Master might have told him would have only overflowed outside, not into him. The professor understood from that one word of the Master, what he meant, what he was trying to tell him!

So understand: If you want to experience me, if you really want to gain something for having taken the time out for these days, just be like an empty cup here. Be totally open and receptive. Be like a child, innocent and curious; like a sponge, ready to absorb; that is enough.

______________________
This excerpt has been taken from the book: Guaranteed Solutions.