Said a recently arrived disciple to one with more experience, “Why do I seem to gain so little from living with the Master?”
“Could it be because you came to learn spirituality from him?”
“Well, what, may I ask, did you come for?”
“To see him fasten his sandal straps.”
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Rarely was the Master so eloquent as when he warned against the bewitching power of words. “Beware of words,” he said. “The moment you look away, they will take on a life of their own; they will dazzle, mesmerize, terrorize, lead you astray from the reality they represent, lead you to believe they are real. The world you see is not the kingdom seen by children, but a fragmented world, broken into a thousand pieces by the word. It is as if each ocean wave were seen to be distinct and separate from the body of the ocean. When words and thoughts are silenced, the Universe blossoms forth, the Real, and Whole, and the One. And words become what they were always meant to be: the score, not the music; the menu, not the food; the signpost, not the journey’s end.”
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Once when the Master spoke of the hypnotic power of words, someone from the back of the room shouted, “You’re talking nonsense. If I say God, God, God, will that make me divine? And if I say sin, sin, sin, will that make me evil?”
“Sit down, you bastard!” said the Master.
The man became so livid with rage that it took him some time to recover his speech. Then he screamed a torrent of abuse at the Master. The Master, looking contrite, said, “Pardon me, sir, I was carried away. I truly apologize for my unpardonable lapse.”
The man calmed down immediately.
“Well, there you have your answer,” said the Master. All it took was a word to give you a fit, and another one to sedate you.”
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Everybody was talking about the religious man who gave his life in a suicide bombing. While no one in the monastery approved of the man’s actions, some said that they admired his faith.
“Faith?” said the Master.
“Well, he had the courage of his convictions, didn’t he?”
“That was fanaticism, not faith. Faith demands a greater courage still: to re-examine one’s convictions, and to reject them if they do not fit the facts.”
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When the Master heard that a neighboring forest had been devastated by fire, he mobilized all his disciples. “We must replant the cedars,” said the Master.
“The cedars? But they take two thousand years to grow!”
“In that case,” said the Master, “there’s not a moment to lose. We must set out at once!”
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“Your religious leaders are just as blind and confused as you are,” said the Master. “When confronted with life’s problems, all they come up with are answers from a book. But life is too large to fit into any book.”
To illustrate this, he told of the thug who said, “This is a holdup! Give me your money or else!”
“Or else what?”
“Don’t confuse me! This is my first job.”
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When the Master met a group of teachers, he spoke long and animatedly, for he had been a teacher himself. “The trouble with teachers,” he said, “is that they keep forgetting that the goal of education is not learning, it’s life.”
He told of a time he saw a boy fishing in a river. “Hello! Nice day for fishing,” he said to the youngster.
“Yes, it is,” came the reply.
After a while the Master said, “Why is it that you’re not in school today?”
“Well, sir, like you said, it’s a nice day for fishing.”
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And he told of a report card his little daughter got:
“Mina is doing well in school. She would be doing much better if the pure joy of living were not impeding her progress.”
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“The Law is an expression of God’s holy Will, and, as such, must be honored and loved,” said the preacher, piously.
“Rubbish,” said the Master. “The law is a necessary evil, and as such should be cut down to the barest minimum. Show me a lover of the law and I’ll show you a mutton-headed tyrant.”
He told of his sister, who once got tired of pushing her daughter’s baby carriage, so she had a motor put on it. Then the police stepped into the picture. First, they said the powered carriage could travel at 3 miles per hour, so it had to be classified as a “self-propelled vehicle”. Therefore the mother would have to get a vehicle license, plates, lights, and brakes, and to crown it all, a driver’s license.
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