The Zen Sage and Thieves : Way of Master

Sages are difficult to predict as there is no conditioned mind with them. The common psychology often fails. Sometimes you go with praises and windup with 'angry' responses. Other times, you mess up with condemnation and get bless in return. I have heard about such peculiar Zen masters. Once a student came to ask the suitable technique  him to follow. The master looked into his eyes and, all of sudden, caught him on arm and threw out of window from the first storey to ground. It caused serious physical injury but provided other understandings (known only to the student !?). Here, I am sharing an instance of another Zen sage who had diametrically opposite response. The exquisite story goes like this:

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It is said of one Zen master, one Zen sage.... He lived in a small hut three or four miles outside a village. One night he found that a thief had entered his hut. He was very much disturbed, because there was nothing in the house, and this thief had traveled for three or four miles in the night and he would have to go back empty-handed. The sage started weeping and crying. The thief also became concerned. He said, "What has happened? Why are you crying so much? Are you disturbed that I may take something from your hut?"

 

The sage said, "No, that is not the thing, I am disturbed because there is nothing here. At least you could have been a little more gentlemanly, you could have informed me before; I would have arranged something for you to steal. There is nothing – what will you think of me? And this is such an honor, that you traveled three or four miles in this night, this cold night, to come to my hut. No one has given such an honor to me before. I am just a beggar and you have made me a king, just by the idea that something can be stolen from me. And there is nothing, so I am crying. So what should I do now? You can take my blanket."

 

He had only one blanket, otherwise he was naked, just under his blanket he was naked. And the night was very cold. He said to the thief, "Please have some compassion on me and don’t say no, because I have nothing else to give to you. Take this blanket, and whenever you again think of visiting, just send a hint. I am poor, but still I will arrange something."

 

The thief could not understand what was happening, but he saw the man crying and weeping so he took compassion on him; he couldn’t say no. He took the blanket and disappeared. And that night this Zen monk wrote a small haiku, in which he said... he was sitting still at his window, the night was cool, cold, the full moon was in the sky, and he says in his haiku: 

God

if I could give this moon

to that thief....

This is the mind of a sage, or, the no-mind. With this same sage, again another thief happened to come to his hut. He was writing a letter, so he looked at the thief and said,

"For what have you come? What do you want?"

And this sage was so innocent that even the thief couldn’t tell a lie. So he said, "Looking at you, so mirror like, so innocent like a child, I cannot tell a lie. Should I tell the truth?"

The sage said, "Yes."

He said, "I have come to steal something."

The sage said, "There in that corner I have got a few rupees. You can take them" – and then he started to write his letter again.

 

The thief took the money, was trying to go out, and then the sage said, "Stop! When somebody gives you something you should thank him. The money may not be of much help, but thanking a person will go a long way and will be of help to you. So thank me!" The thief thanked him and disappeared into the dark.

 

Later on the thief was caught, and it was discovered that he had been to this sage’s hut also, so the sage was called to the court. The sage said, "Yes, I know this man very well – but he has never stolen anything from me. I gave him some rupees and he thanked me for them. It is finished, it was nothing wrong. The whole thing is finished, the account is closed. I gave him some money and he thanked me for it. He is not a thief."

 

This mind, or no-mind, of a sage is the base.

------------Love reference- Osho: Vedanta - Seven Steps to Samadhi

While writing this, I remembered a poetic piece:

किरणोका कोइ देश नही,
वायुका कोइ गाँव नही,
और, सन्तोंका कोइ विचार नही

( Rays are NOT of any  world

Breeze is NOT of any country

and, sages are of NO thoughts )

 

What do you think?

 

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