Buddhist Monk and Amrapali Buddha was staying in Vaishali, where Amrapali lived. Amrapali was a prostitute. In Buddha's time, in this country, it was a convention that the most beautiful woman of any city will not be allowed to get married to any one person, because that will create unnecessary jealousy, conflict, fighting. So the most beautiful woman had to become nagarvadhu – the wife of the whole town. It was not disrespectable at all; on the contrary, just as in the contemporary world we declare beautiful women as "the woman of the year", they were very much respected. They were not ordinary prostitutes. Their function was that of a prostitute, but they were only visited by the very rich, or the kings, or the princes, generals -- the highest strata of society. Amrapali was very beautiful. One day she was standing on her terrace and she saw a young Buddhist monk. She had never fallen in love with anybody, although every day she had to pretend to be a great lover to this king, to that king, to this rich man, to that general. But she fell suddenly in love with the man, a Buddhist monk who had nothing, just a begging bowl --a young man, but of a tremendous presence, awareness, grace. The way he was walking ... She rushed down, she asked the monk, "Please -- today accept my food." Other monks were also coming behind him, because whenever Buddha was moving anywhere, ten thousand monks were always moving with him. The other monks could not believe this. They were jealous and angry and feeling all human qualities and frailties as they saw the young man enter the palace of Amrapali. Amrapali told him, "After three days the rainy season is going to start ..." Buddhist monks don't move for four months when it is the rainy season. Those are the four months they stay in one place; for eight months they continuously move, they can't stay more than three days in one place. It is a strange psychology, if you have watched yourself ... You can watch it: to be attached to some place it takes you at least four days. For example, for the first day in a new house you may not be able to sleep, the second day it will be little easier, the third day it will be even easier, and the fourth day you will be able to sleep perfectly at home. So before that, if you are a Buddhist monk, you have to leave. Amrapali said, "After just three days the rainy season is to begin, and I invite you to stay in my house for the four months". The young monk said, "I will ask my master. If he allows me, I will come." As he went out there was a crowd of monks standing, asking him what had happened. He said, "I have taken my meal, and the woman has asked me to stay the four months of the rainy season in her palace. I told her that I will ask my master." People were really angry -- one day was already too much; but four months continuously ...! They rushed towards Gautam Buddha. Before the young man could reach the assembly, there were hundreds standing up and telling Gautam Buddha, "This man has to be stopped. That woman is a prostitute, and a monk staying four months in a prostitute's house ..." Buddha said, "You keep quiet! Let him come. He has not agreed to stay; he has agreed only if I allow him. Let him come." The young monk came, touched the feet of Buddha and told the whole story, "The woman is a prostitute, a famous prostitute, Amrapali. She has asked me to stay for four months in her house. Every monk will be staying somewhere, in somebody's house, for the four months. I have told her that I will ask my master, so I am here ... whatever you say." Buddha looked into his eyes and said, "You can stay." It was a shock. Ten thousand monks ... There was great silence, but great anger, great jealousy. They could not believe that Buddha has allowed a monk to stay in a prostitute's house. After three days the young man left to stay with Amrapali, and the monks every day started bringing gossips, "The whole city is agog. There is only one talk -- that a Buddhist monk is staying with Amrapali for four months continuously." Buddha said, "You should keep silent. Four months will pass and I trust my monk. I have looked into his eyes -- there was no desire. If I had said no, he would not have felt anything. I said yes ... he simply went. And I trust in my monk, in his awareness, in his meditation. "Why are you getting so agitated and worried? If my monk's meditation is deep then he will change Amrapali, and if his meditation is not deep then Amrapali may change him. It is now a question between meditation and a biological attraction. Just wait for four months. I trust my young man. He has been doing perfectly well and I have every certainty he will come out of this fire test absolutely victorious." Nobody believed Gautam Buddha. His own disciples thought, "He is trusting too much. The man is too young; he is too fresh and Amrapali is much too beautiful. He is taking an unnecessary risk." But there was nothing else to do. After four months the young man came, touched Buddha's feet -- and following him was Amrapali, dressed as a Buddhist nun. She touched Buddha's feet and she said, "I tried my best to seduce your monk, but he seduced me. He convinced me by his presence and awareness that the real life is at your feet. I want to give all my possessions to the commune of your monks." She had a very beautiful garden and a beautiful palace. She said, "You can make it a place where ten thousand monks can stay in any rainy season." And Buddha said to the assembly, "Now, are you satisfied or not?" If meditation is deep, if awareness is clear, nothing can disturb it. Then everything is ephemeral. Amrapali became one of the enlightened women among Buddha's disciples. So the whole question is: wherever you are, become more centered, become more alert, live more consciously. There is nowhere else to go. Everything that has to happen, has to happen within you, and it is in your hands. You are not a puppet, and your strings are not in anybody else's hands. You are an absolutely free individual. If you decide to remain in illusions, you can remain so for many, many lives. If you decide to get out, a single moment's decision is enough. You can be out of all illusions this very moment. Okay, Maneesha? Yes, Osho. Source: “The GreatZen Master Ta Hui” Life exists, when we are aware Osho : Every buddha in his past was as ignorant as you are; and everybody who is ignorant has a future. Any day suddenly, light; and in that light all the past, maybe millions of years, disappear like dreams. Buddha used to measure people’s age from the time they became enlightened. He did not count the previous age. One day, a great emperor of those days, Prasenjita, was sitting by the side of Buddha asking him questions. And an old monk – he may have been seventy-five years old at least – asked Prasenjita, ”Forgive me please. I have been waiting because I have to leave before sunset. I have to reach the other village” – a buddhist monk cannot travel in the night – ”so I am in a hurry. I have to disturb you just for a moment, just to touch Buddha’s feet and ask if there is any message. I may not be seeing him again and who knows about tomorrow?” So he touched the Buddha’s feet and Buddha asked, ”How old are you?” And the old man said, ”Four years.” Prasenjita could not believe that and could not resist the temptation either to interfere. He said, ”What? Four years? You must be at least seventy-five.” Buddha said, ”Prasenjita, you don’t know. In my commune we count only those years which he has lived as an enlightened being. Before that was just darkness and dreams, nightmares, misery, not worth counting. You are right, he is seventy-five years old according to the ordinary world, but this is not an ordinary world. He is living in an extraordinary commune. As far as I am concerned he is four years old. I was just asking him whether he remembers or not. He remembers. He knows what is real life – only four years. And the seventy-one years were just fake, they do not matter, have no meaning at all. There is no need to count them.” Buddha said, ”With my blessings you can go because your remembrance is correct.” Source: "God is Dead, Now Zen is the Only Living Truth"
Buddha teaching meditation to Ananda Gautam Buddha was going to a Village to give sermon with Ananda (chief disciple of Buddha) They crossed a small canal and went further towards the village. It was a Hot day and sun was bright. After some time Buddha felt thirsty and sat down under a tree. Buddha asked Ananda to fetch water from the canal they had just crossed. In mean time a Bullock cart had crossed the canal and water had become dirty. When Ananda reached the canal, he found water is unfit for drinking. He came back and told buddha that water is not clean. But Buddha insisted and said go back and wait till water becomes clean again. By the time Ananda had reached back to the canal, some mud had already settled down, but water was still unfit for drinking. Nothing else to do Ananda sat silently near the canal and started meditating. After few minutes he opened eyes to see water and to his surprise water was clean. Mud had settled down on its own. Same is the nature of our mind also. Our thoughts are like Mud which pollutes our consciousness. Moment we stop paying attention to thoughts, stop cooperating with them, stop analyzing thoughts, stop bothering with them, silence starts descending on us. and we regain our pure consciousness state. Gautam Buddha Teachings on Middle Path Gautam Buddha was so graceful and attractive that many princes left their royal palaces and followed Buddha on the path of dharma. Shrona was one such Prince. Shrona had lived the life of woman, wine and comforts till now. One day Buddha entered in his life and Prince Shrona became a Shrona the 'Monk'. But Shrona was not a Ordinary Monk. He was doing all sort of austerities on his Body. Other monks used to take rest under the shadows of tree but Shrona used to stay under Blazing Sun, walking barefoot, eating very meagerly. soon Shrona was a mere skeleton. At last seeing Shrona condition Buddha went to Shrona and asked him. "You were a very good Veena Player. If the chords of Veena are too loose or too Tight then can we play the good music." Shrona Said No, its not possible. Buddha said "In life also we need to follow the path of Middle. Earlier you were into too much comfort, now you are into too much denial. Both paths are wrong". Shrona understood Buddha message and his life was transformed. Mind clings to extremes. it moves from one extreme to another. Path of middle is advocated by Gautam Buddha. Body has Needs and Mind has desires. Body needs are Food, sleep. Mind desires are Greed, Lust, fame. Body needs can be fulfilled and should be fulfilled. Mind Needs can never be Fulfilled and always leads to wastage of energy. Gautam Buddha Mahaparinirvana This is of great significance for you all. Meditation has to become something so deep in you that wherever you go it remains, abides with you; whatsoever you do it is always there. Only then can your life be transformed. Then not only will you be meditative in your life, you will be meditative in your death too. You will die in deep meditation. That’s how Buddha died. That’s how all the Buddhas have always died: their death is something exquisitely beautiful. Their life is beautiful, their death too. There is no gap between their life and death. Their death is a crescendo of their life, the ultimate peak, the absolute expression. When Buddha died he was eighty-two years old. He called his disciples together – just as he used to when he talked to them every morning. They all gathered. Nobody was thinking at all about his death. And then Buddha said, ”This is my last sermon to you. Whatsoever I had to say to you I have said. Forty-two years I have been telling you, saying to you... I have poured out my whole heart. Now, if somebody has any question left he can ask, because this is the last day of my life. Today I leave for the other shore. My boat has arrived.” They were shocked! They had come just to listen to the daily discourse. They were not thinking that he was going to die – and without making any fuss about death! It was just a simple phenomenon, a simple declaration that ”My boat has come and I have to leave. If you have any question left you can ask me, because if you don’t ask me today, I will never again be available. Then the question will remain with you. So please, be kind and don’t be shy,” he told his disciples. They started crying. And Buddha said, ”Stop all this nonsense! This is no time to waste on crying and weeping! Ask if you have something to ask, otherwise let me go. The time has come. I cannot linger any longer.” They said, ’We have nothing to ask. You have given more than we would have ever asked. You have answered all the questions that we have asked, that we could have asked. You have answered questions which for centuries will be fulfilling for all kinds of inquirers.” Then Buddha said, ”So I can take leave of you. Good-bye.” And he closed his eyes, sat in a lotus posture, and started moving towards the other shore. It is said: the first step was that he left his body, the second step was that he left his mind, the third step was that he left his heart, the fourth step was that he left his soul. He disappeared into the universal so peacefully, so silently, so joyously. The birds were chirping; it was early morning – the sun was still on the horizon. And ten thousand sannyasins were sitting and watching Buddha dying with such grace! They forgot completely that this was death. There was nothing of death as they had always conceived it. It was such an extraordinary experience. So much meditative energy was released that many became enlightened that very day, that very moment. Those who were just on the verge were pushed into the unknown. Thousands, it is said, became enlightened through Buddha’s beautiful death. We don’t call it death, we call it Mahaparinirvana, dissolving into the absolute – just like an ice cube melting, dissolving into the ocean. He lived in meditation, he died in meditation. Source: from book "Walking in Zen, Sitting in Zen"
