One fart blows me across the river

[Guest guest]

Hi Ravi,

 

If you are still around........

 

An avid student of Buddhist teachings, would often discuss them with a Master .

The two lived across the river from one another

 

One day, the student felt inspired and wrote the following poem:

I bow my head to the heaven within heavenHairline rays illuminating the

universeThe eight winds cannot move meSitting still upon the purple golden

lotus

Impressed by himself, the student dispatched somebody to hand-carry this poem to

the Master.

He felt certain that the Master would be just as impressed, maybe be even

recognize his enlightenment.

The "eight winds" in the poem referred to praise, ridicule, honor, disgrace,

gain, loss, pleasure and misery - interpersonal forces of the material world

that drove and influenced the hearts of men. The student was saying that he had

attained a higher level of spirituality, where these forces no longer affected

him.

Smiling, the Master wrote "Fart" on the manuscript and had it returned to the

student across the river.

Expecting compliments and a seal of approval, the student was shocked when he

saw what the Master had written.

He hit the roof: "How dare he insult me like this? Why that lousy old Master!

He's got a lot of explaining to do!"

Full of indignation, the student got into a boat and ferried himself to the

other shore as quickly as possible.

Once there, he jumped off and charged into the hut where the Master lived. He

wanted to find the Master and demand an apology.

He found the Master's door closed. On the door was a piece of paper, with the

following two lines:

 

The eight winds cannot move meOne fart blows me across the river

 

Ramana can be quoted at the drop of the hat.

Nisargadatta's "I AM THAT" can be re-written from memory

All the neat rejoinders to the question Who am I, can be given, with nonchalance.

Consciousness, has been dissected, explained, .......esoteric prosing bettered,

like never before.

And yet one fart brings, frothing across Cyber Lists, eh Ravi?