
| born: 677 died: 744 place: China |
| stories: Osho Zen: The Quantum Leap From Mind to No-mind, ch. 5 Ma Tzu: The Empty Mirror, ch. 1, ch. 2, ch. 3 God is Dead: Now Zen is the Only Living Truth, ch. 4 |
| oshobob The Living Workshop |
| Zen Masters |
When Sekito received the precepts, his master, Seigen, asked him, "Now you have received the precepts, you want to learn the Vinaya, don't you?" Sekito replied, "There's no need to learn the Vinaya." Seigen asked, "Then, you want to read the book of Sheela?" Sekito replied, "There's no need to read the book of Sheela." Seigen asked, "Can you deliver a letter to Nangaku Osho?" Sekito said, "Certainly." Seigen said, "Go now, and come back quickly. If you come back even a little late, you will miss me. If you miss me, you cannot get the big hatchet under my chair." Soon Sekito reached Nangaku. Before handing over the letter, Sekito made a bow and asked, "Osho, when one neither follows the old saints nor expresses one's innermost soul, what will one do?" Nangaku said, "Your question is too arrogant. Why don't you ask modestly?" To which Sekito replied, "Then it would be better to sink into hell eternally and not ever hope for the liberation that the old saints know." Sekito, finding that he and Nangaku were not attuned to each other, soon left for Seigen without giving Nangaku the letter. On his arrival, Seigen asked, "Did they entrust something to you?" Sekito said, "They didn't entrust anything to me." Seigen said, "But there must have been a reply." Sekito said, "If they don't entrust anything, there is no reply." Then he said, "When I was leaving here, you added that I should come back soon to receive the big hatchet under the chair. Now I have come back, please give me the big hatchet." Seigen was silent. Sekito bowed down and retired. The silence of Seigen was his acceptance of Sekito, his courage. He knew that the letter had not been delivered, that there had not been any reply, although Sekito had not mentioned the letter. Sekito simply said, "They did not entrust anything to me, so how can there be any reply?" Seigen saw the man, that he has the quality and deserves to be enlightened. His silence was his hatchet. He was saying, "When you come I am going to cut your head with a hatchet." And now he reminded him, "Now I have come back, please give me the big hatchet”. Cut my head. Do whatsoever you want to do, I am ready. Seigen was silent. In that deep silence is the transfer, the transmission of the lamp. It is not a question of language, it is a question of a transfer of energy. Just simply in that silence the flame jumped from Seigen to Sekito... --Osho God is Dead, Now Zen is the Only Living Truth, ch. 2 |