Answer of all answers is silence.....
One day early in the morning when Buddha was out for his morning walk, a man asked him, "Is there a God?"
Buddha looked for a moment into the eyes of the man and said, "No. There is no God at all -- never has been, never will be. You get rid of all this nonsense."
The man was shocked.
Ananda was following Buddha. He always followed him like a shadow, just to be at his service if at any moment, any need arose. He listened -- he had listened to many answers from Buddha -- and it was like a hammer, so crude, so cruel it looked. But he saw the face of Buddha -- tremendous compassion.
In the afternoon of the same day another man came and he asked, "Is there a God?"
Buddha said, "Yes, there is -- always has been, always will be. Seek and find."
Ananda was very much puzzled; he had not forgotten the answer that Buddha gave just that morning, but he could not ask because there were so many other people there.
And before he could ask, another man came by that evening just as the sun was setting. And Buddha was sitting outside underneath a tree, just watching the sunset and the beautiful clouds, and the man asked, "Is there a God?"
Buddha simply motioned his hand, made a gesture to the man to sit down, and himself closed his eyes. The man followed. They sat in silence for a few moments, then the man rose up. It was getting dark, the sun had set. He touched the feet of Buddha, said, "I am grateful for the answer. Thank you very much," and went away.
Now Ananda was all boiling up. When there was nobody there, Ananda asked, "I will not be able to sleep tonight unless you answer me. In a single day, the same question -- and you answer in three ways. To the first person you said 'No, there is no God.' To the second you said, 'Yes, there is.' And to the third you simply motioned with such love for him to sit down and close his eyes. You didn't say anything to him, but something must have transpired, because the man fell into deep silence, he touched your feet, he thanked you also for your answer, although I was there and you had not answered at all. What is going on? You have puzzled me very much."
Buddha said, "No answer was given to you. Why should you be puzzled? It was their question, it was my answer, you were not a party to it."
But Ananda said, "I am not deaf, I was there and I simply listened.
And now those three answers are keeping me very much confused."
Buddha said, "The first man was a believer, he believed in God. He had not really come to inquire, he had come to be confirmed. He wanted his belief to be supported by me, so that he could go and tell people, 'Not only I believe in God, Buddha also believes.' He wanted to use me for his own purposes, hence I had to say no. And I had to be very hard with him, otherwise he was so full of his own ideas he would not have listened. He was a scholar, well acquainted with the scriptures -- I could hear the noise in his head, I could see the turmoil in his being. I had to be very cruel and hard like a hammer, because only then there was a possibility that he might hear. He needed a shock. I shocked him, because I don't want to support anybody's beliefs. All beliefs are wrong. Knowing is a totally different matter.
"And the second man was an atheist, he did not believe in God. He was also a scholar, he was also full of all kinds of ideas, but he was just the opposite to the first man. He had also come for the same purpose. They were opposites, enemies, but the purpose was the same. He wanted me to support his non-belief, his disbelief. That's why I had to say to him with such authority: 'Yes, there is a God -- only God is, and nothing else.' That way I shattered his belief.
"And the third man was really a seeker.
He did not want an answer, he wanted an experience. He had not come to question -- he had no idea, no prejudice -- he had come open, available. He was vulnerable to me, he was a man of great trust. He wanted me to reveal something to him, hence I did not answer him, I simply told him to sit by my side. And, yes, you are right, something transpired...."
... Because something always transpires when two persons can manage to sit in deep silence. And if you can manage to sit in deep silence with a buddha, something of tremendous value is going to happen. His silence is contagious. If you are available and open his silence will pour into your being. It will be like a bath; you will be bathed in his consciousness. You will be cleansed, you will be purified. Your dust will disappear from your mirror. Suddenly you will be able to see; your eyes will be clear.
"... So without giving him any answer, he received the answer. He received the answer of all answers which is silence. That's why he was so grateful, that's why he bowed down 'and touched my feet, that's why he thanked me."
When you come to a Buddha or a Bodhidharma you have to be very alert how you come. Don't come with prejudices, otherwise you will ask childish questions.
Topic: STORY OF THE DAY (Read 199085 times)