Guest guest Posted July 2, 2000 Report Share Posted July 2, 2000 Here is a forwarded message... In advaitin , f maiello wrote: namaskaar below is an excerpt from osho's zen tarot readings. Meditation for the Day 13. Dropping Knowledge ---- Naropa's haunting vision Truth is your own experience, your own vision. Even if I have seen the truth and I tell you, the moment I tell you it will become a lie for you, not a truth. For me it was truth, for me it came through the eyes. It was my vision. For you, it will not be your vision, it will be a borrowed thing. It will be a belief, it will be knowledge--not knowing. And if you start believing in it, you will be believing a lie. Now remember it. Even a truth becomes a lie if it enters your being through the wrong door. The truth has to enter through the front door, through the eyes. Truth is a vision. One has to see it. Naropa was a great scholar, a great pundit, with ten thousand disciples of his own. One day he was sitting surrounded by thousands of scriptures--ancient, very ancient, rare. Suddenly he fell asleep, must have been tired, and he saw a vision. He saw a very, very old, ugly, horrible woman--a hag. Her ugliness was such that he started trembling in his sleep. It was so nauseating he wanted to escape--but where to escape, where to go? He was caught, as if hypnotized by the old hag. Her eyes were like magnets. "What are you studying?" asked the old woman. He said, "Philosophy, religion, epistemology, language, grammar, logic." The old woman asked again, "Do you understand them?" Naropa said, "Of course... Yes, I understand them." The woman asked again, "Do you understand the word, or the sense?" Thousands of questions had been asked to Naropa in his life--thousands of students always asking, inquiring--but nobody had asked this: whether he understands the word, or the sense. And the woman's eyes were so penetrating--those eyes were going to the very depth of his being, and it was impossible to lie. To anybody else he would have said, "Of course I under-stand the sense," but to this woman, this horrible-looking woman, he had to say the truth. He said, "I understand the words." The woman was very happy. She started dancing and laughing, and her ugliness was transformed; a subtle beauty started coming out of her being. Thinking, "I have made her so happy. Why not make her a little more happy?" Naropa then said, "And yes, I understand the sense also." The woman stopped laughing, stopped dancing. She started crying and weeping and all her ugliness was back--a thousandfold more. Naropa said, "Why are you weeping and crying? And why were you laughing and dancing before?" The woman said, "I was happy because a great scholar like you didn't lie. But now I am crying and weeping because you have lied to me. I know--and you know--that you don't understand the sense." The vision disappeared and Naropa was transformed. He escaped from the university, he never again touched a scripture in his life. He became completely ignorant, he understood--the woman was nobody outside, it was just a projection. It was Naropa's own being, through knowledge, that had became ugly. Just this much understanding, that "I don't understand the sense," and the ugliness was transformed immediately into a beautiful phenomenon. This vision of Naropa is very significant. Unless you feel that knowledge is useless you will never be in search of wisdom. You will carry the false coin thinking that this is the real treasure. You have to become aware that knowledge is a false coin--it is not knowing, it is not understanding. At the most it is intellectual--the word has been understood but the sense lost. --- End forwarded message --- ______________________ If you keep a flowering branch in your heart, surely the singing bird will come. ~Chinese Saying http://www.users.uniserve.com/~samuel/gloria1.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 2, 2000 Report Share Posted July 2, 2000 Hi Glo, Great story! I've passed it on, but without Osho's explanations. )) It speaks for itself, I think. Love, Dharma >Naropa's haunting vision > > >Truth is your own experience, your own vision. Even if >I have seen the truth and I tell you, the moment I >tell you it will become a lie for you, not a truth. >For me it was truth, for me it came through the eyes. >It was my vision. For you, it will not be your vision, >it will be a borrowed thing. It will be a belief, it >will be knowledge--not knowing. And if you start >believing in it, you will be believing a lie. > >Now remember it. Even a truth becomes a lie if it >enters your being through the wrong door. The truth >has to enter through the front door, through the eyes. >Truth is a vision. One has to see it. > > >Naropa was a great scholar, a great pundit, with ten >thousand disciples of his own. One day he was sitting >surrounded by thousands of scriptures--ancient, very >ancient, rare. Suddenly he fell asleep, must have been >tired, and he saw a vision. > >He saw a very, very old, ugly, horrible woman--a hag. >Her ugliness was such that he started trembling in his >sleep. It was so nauseating he wanted to escape--but >where to escape, where to go? > >He was caught, as if hypnotized by the old hag. Her >eyes were like magnets. > >"What are you studying?" asked the old woman. > >He said, "Philosophy, religion, epistemology, >language, grammar, logic." > >The old woman asked again, "Do you understand them?" > >Naropa said, "Of course... Yes, I understand them." > >The woman asked again, "Do you understand the word, or >the sense?" > >Thousands of questions had been asked to Naropa in his >life--thousands of students always asking, >inquiring--but nobody had asked this: whether he >understands the word, or the sense. And the woman's >eyes were so penetrating--those eyes were going to the >very depth of his being, and it was impossible to lie. >To anybody else he would have said, "Of course I >under-stand the sense," but to this woman, this >horrible-looking woman, he had to say the truth. He >said, "I understand the words." > >The woman was very happy. She started dancing and >laughing, and her ugliness was transformed; a subtle >beauty started coming out of her being. Thinking, "I >have made her so happy. Why not make her a little more >happy?" Naropa then said, "And yes, I understand the >sense also." > >The woman stopped laughing, stopped dancing. She >started crying and weeping and all her ugliness was >back--a thousandfold more. Naropa said, "Why are you >weeping and crying? And why were you laughing and >dancing before?" > >The woman said, "I was happy because a great scholar >like you didn't lie. But now I am crying and weeping >because you have lied to me. I know--and you >know--that you don't understand the sense." > >The vision disappeared and Naropa was transformed. He >escaped from the university, he never again touched a >scripture in his life. He became completely ignorant, >he understood--the woman was nobody outside, it was >just a projection. It was Naropa's own being, through >knowledge, that had became ugly. Just this much >understanding, that "I don't understand the sense," >and the ugliness was transformed immediately into a >beautiful phenomenon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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