This This A Thousand Times This ~ 12

event type	discourse & meditation
date & time	7 Jun 1988 pm
location	Gautam the Buddha Auditorium, Pune
language	English
audio	Available, duration 0h 57min. Quality: good. Osho leading meditation from 41:22. Live music after the discourse.
online audio	free download from OshoWorld purchase from Osho.com
video	Available, duration 0h 54min. Quality: good.
online video
see also	timeline : Osho Timeline 1988 first edition : This. This. A Thousand Times This (1988.11) other editions, translations and links
online text	find the PDF of this discourse
shorttitle	THIS12

notes

synopsis: Reader of the sutra: Ma Prem Maneesha. Questions are being read by Osho himself.
After discourse Osho leads No-Mind Meditation.

The sutra

A monk asked Seppo, "How about when the old valley water is a cold spring?"

Seppo answered, "Stare into it as you may, you can't see the bottom!"

The monk said, "What about when we drink the water?"

Seppo said, "It doesn't go in the mouth."

The monk went to Joshu and said what had been discussed.

Joshu said, "If it won't go in the mouth, it won't go through the nostrils."

The monk then asked, "How about when the old valley water is a cold spring?"

Joshu said, "How disagreeable it is!"

The monk said, "What about drinking it?"

Joshu said, "You will die."

When Seppo heard of this conversation, he said, "Joshu is one of the ancient Buddhas," and bowed down in respect to Joshu, from a distance. After that he answered no question himself.

Question 1

Beloved Osho, in the past I have heard you say that for a disciple to move from master to master is like continuously drilling holes that never go deep enough to reach the water. Yet, that seems to be just what Zen monks did -- moving from one master to another, often with the same question.

Trust and intimacy with the master were apparently less significant than finding the master who could create the right situation.

Would you please comment?

Question 2

As a species we regard ourselves as the most conscious and evolved form of life, and thus able to help all other forms of life. But Zen seems to indicate another equally important truth -- that all life forms, and the most mundane of activities involved in life, are all potential triggers to help us realize the ultimate consciousness.

Through these evenings with you, this has become too obvious to comment on; and yet too marvellous, not to.

(source:CD-ROM)