Banyan Tree

Banyan Tree

July 2023

BANYAN TREE 

TEACHING STORY 

THE WHIP AND THE ROPE 

A very rich woman served a monk for thirty years.  The monk was really beautiful, always aware, and  disciplined. He had a beauty that comes naturally  when your life is ordered—a cleanness, a freshness. 

The woman was dying; she was very old. She called  a prostitute from the town and told the prostitute,  “Before I leave my body, I would like to know one  thing: whether this man I have been serving for  thirty years has attained it or not.” 

The prostitute asked, “What am I supposed to do?” 

The woman said, “I will give you as much money  as you want. You just go to him in the middle of the  night. He will be meditating because he meditates  in the middle of the night. The door is never closed  because he has nothing which can be stolen, so you  open the door and just watch his reaction. Go close  to him, embrace him, and then come back and tell  me what happened. Before I die, I would like to  know whether I have been serving a real master or  just an ordinary, mediocre being.” 

The prostitute went and did as told. She opened  the door. A small lamp was burning; the man  was meditating. He opened his eyes. Seeing the  prostitute, he became afraid, trembled, and said,  “What! Why have you come here?” And when the  woman tried to embrace him, he tried to escape.  He was trembling and furious. 

The woman came back and told the old lady what  had happened. The old lady ordered her servants  to burn the cottage that she had made for this man  and be finished with him. He had not reached  anywhere. The old woman said, “At least he could  have been a little kind, compassionate.” This fear  shows that the whip is not yet abandoned. This  

anger shows that awareness is still an effort, it has not  become natural, it has not become spontaneous. 

A saint is really a saint only when he has abandoned  the whip and the rope. That is the criterion. If he is  still trying to pray, to meditate, to do this and that, and  to discipline himself, then he is not yet enlightened.  Then he is still there and some doing continues. And  doing accumulates the ego. He has not reached home.  The journey is yet to be completed. 

Source: “The Search”—Osho

THIS, I KNOW 

 STEPHEN R COVEY 

•  The key is not to prioritise what’s on your  schedule but to schedule your priorities. 

•  The main thing is to keep the main thing the  main thing. 

•  Live out of your imagination, not your history. •  Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential  ingredient in effective communication. It’s  the foundational principle that holds all  relationships. 

•  Most of us spend too much time on what  is urgent and not enough time on what is  important. 

•  I am not a product of my circumstances. I am  a product of my decisions. 

•  You have to decide what your highest  priorities are and have the courage— pleasantly, smilingly, unapologetically, to say  ‘no’ to other things. And the way you do that  is by having a bigger ‘yes’ burning inside. The  enemy of the ‘best’ is often the ‘good.’ 

•  I teach people how to treat me by what I will  allow. 

INSPIRATION 

ASHTAVAKRA GITA 

Chapter 13—Of Freedom 

King Janaka: 

The inner freedom of having nothing is hard to  achieve, even with just a loin-cloth, but I live as I please abandoning both renunciation and acquisition. Sometimes one experiences distress because of  one's body, 

sometimes because of one’s tongue and sometimes because of one’s mind. Abandoning all of these, I live as I please in the goal of human existence. Recognising that in reality no action is ever  committed, 

I live as I please, just doing what presents itself  to be done. Yogis who identify themselves with their bodies are insistent on fulfilling and avoiding certain  actions, 

but I live as I please, abandoning attachment  and rejection. No benefit or loss comes to me by standing,  walking, or lying down, so consequently I live as I please  

whether standing, walking, or sleeping. 

JUST FOR LAUGHS 

OF LOVE AND COMMITMENT PRETEND MARRIAGE 

I lose nothing by sleeping and gain nothing by  effort, 

so consequently I live as I please, 

abandoning loss and success. 

Frequently observing the drawbacks 

of such things as pleasant objects, 

I live as I please, abandoning the pleasant and  unpleasant.

ONE-MINUTE WISDOM BREATHE AND CHANGE YOUR  EMOTIONS 

If we are feeling too negative because of anything  like sexuality or frustration or depression,  then Rapid Exhalation helps in clearing out  the energy from us. Breath is a very vital link.  All emotions can be changed by changing the  quality of breathing. 

An Osho meditation for sexuality goes like this:  Whenever you feel sexual, close your eyes and  look upwards. Now exhale the breath but don’t  inhale as long as you can do it comfortably. After  a few seconds when you inhale, don’t exhale as  long as you can retain the breath comfortably.  Repeat this process a few times with eyes closed  and looking upwards, and the energy will move  to the upper chakras. 

Mulla Nasruddin in the upper berth was awakened by a persistent tapping from below. “I am terribly cold down here. I wonder if you mind getting me a blanket,” said a lady’s  voice. 

“I have a better idea,” the Mulla replied sleepily. “Let’s pretend we are married.” “That sounds like a lovely idea,” she giggled. 

“Good,” said Nasruddin, rolling over. “Now go get your own damn blanket.”