One whose arrow is shot
21 April 1977 am in Buddha Hall
THE ROYAL SONG OF SARAHA
I BOW DOWN TO NOBLE MANJUSRI
I BOW DOWN TO HIM WHO HAS CONQUERED THE FINITE
AS CALM WATER LASHED BY WIND
TURNS INTO WAVES AND ROLLERS,
SO THE KING THINKS OF SARAHA
IN MANY WAYS, ALTHOUGH ONE MAN.
TO A FOOL WHO SQUINTS
ONE LAMP IS AS TWO,
WHERE SEEN AND SEER ARE NOT TWO, AH! THE MIND
WORKS ON THE THINGNESS OF THEM BOTH.
THOUGH THE HOUSE-LAMPS HAVE BEEN LIT,
THE BLIND LIVE ON IN THE DARK.
THOUGH SPONTANEITY IS ALL-ENCOMPASSING AND CLOSE,
TO THE DELUDED IT REMAINS ALWAYS FAR AWAY.
THOUGH THERE MAY BE MANY RIVERS, THEY ARE ONE IN THE SEA,
THOUGH THERE MAY BE MANY LIES, ONE TRUTH WILL CONQUER ALL.
WHEN ONE SUN APPEARS, THE DARK,
HOWEVER DEEP, WILL VANISH.
GAUTAM THE BUDDHA IS THE GREATEST MASTER who has ever walked on the earth. Christ
is a great Master, so is Krishna, so is Mahavir, so is Mohammed, and many more – but Buddha
still remains the greatest Master. Not that his achievement of Enlightenment is greater than
anybody else’s – Enlightenment is neither less nor more – he has attained to the same quality
of consciousness as Mahavir, as Christ, as Zarathustra, as Lao Tzu.
There is no question of any Enlightened man being more Enlightened than anybody else. But as far
as his being a Master is concerned, Buddha is incomparable – because, through him, thousands of
people have attained to Enlightenment. It has never happened with any other Master. His line has
been the most fruitful line. His family has been the most creative family up to now. He is like a big
tree with so many branches – and EACH branch has been fruitful; each branch is loaded with many
fruits.
Mahavir remained a local phenomenon. Krishna fell into the hands of scholars and was lost. Christ
was completely destroyed by the priests. Much could have happened, but it didn’t happen. Buddha
has been tremendously fortunate in this. Not that the priests have not tried, not that the scholars
have not tried they have done all that they can do but somehow Buddha’s teaching was devised in
such a way that it could not be destroyed. It is still alive. Even after twenty-five centuries, a few
flowers come on his tree, it still blooms. Spring comes, and still it releases fragrance, it still bears
fruit.
Saraha is also a fruit of the same tree. Saraha was born about two centuries after Buddha. He was
in the direct line of a different branch. One branch moves from Mahakashyap to Bodhidharma and
Zen is born – and it is still full of flowers, that branch. Another branch moves from Buddha to his son,
Rahul Bhadra, and from Rahul Bhadra to Sri Kirti, and from Sri Kirti to Saraha, and from Saraha to
Nargarjuna – that is the Tantra branch. It is still bearing fruit in Tibet.
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