Today, on this auspicious occasion of Makar Sankranti, the holy transit of SUN, let us try to understand the eternal quest of Q&A, where all the answers seem to pose a new question and no question seems to have any rightful answer. ‘How and why is this so?’ is again an interminable question…!?!When Maulingaputta came to Buddha for the first time he asked many questions. Buddha said, “Are you asking in order to solve the questions or are you only asking to get answers?”
Maulingaputta said, “I have come to ask you, and you have begun to ask me! Let me ponder over it, I must think about it.” He thought about it and the second day he said, “Really, I have come to solve them.”
Maulingaputta said, “I have come to ask you, and you have begun to ask me! Let me ponder over it, I must think about it.” He thought about it and the second day he said, “Really, I have come to solve them.”
Buddha said to him, “Have you asked these same questions to anyone else as well?”
Maulingaputta said, “I have asked everyone continuously for thirty years.”
Buddha said, “By asking for thirty years you must have got many answers – many, many. But have any proved to be the answer?”
Maulingaputta said, “None!”
Then Buddha said, “I will not give you any answers. In thirty years of questioning many answers have been given; I can add some more but that is not going to help. So I will give you the solution, not the answer.”
Maulingaputta said, “Okay, give it to me.”
But Buddha said, “It cannot be given by me, it has to be grown in you. So remain for one year with me silently. Not a single question will be allowed. Be totally silent, be with me, and after one year you can ask; then I will give you the answer.”
Sariputta, the chief disciple of Buddha, was sitting nearby under a tree. He began to laugh. Maulingaputta asked, “Why is Sariputta laughing? What is there to laugh about?”
Sariputta said, “Ask right now if you have to ask; do not wait for one year. We have been fooled – this happened to me too – because after one year we never ask. If you have remained totally silent for a year, then the very source of questioning drops. And this man is deceptive! This man is very deceptive,” Sariputta said. “After one year he will not give you any answers.”
So Buddha said, “I will remain with my promise, Sariputta. I have remained with my promise with you, too. It is not my fault that you do not ask.”
One year went by and Maulingaputta remained silent: silently doing meditation and becoming more and more silent outwardly and inwardly. Then he became a silent pool, with no vibrations, no waves. He forgot that the year had passed. The day that he was to ask had come but he himself forgot.
Buddha said, “There used to be a man called Maulingaputta here. Where is he? He has to ask some question. The year has passed; the day has come, so he must come to me.” There were ten thousand monks there and everyone tried to find out who Maulingaputta was. And Maulingaputta also tried to find out where he was!
Buddha called to him and said, “Why are you looking around? You are the man. And I have to fulfill my promise, so you ask and I will give you the answer.”
Buddha said, “By asking for thirty years you must have got many answers – many, many. But have any proved to be the answer?”
Maulingaputta said, “None!”
Then Buddha said, “I will not give you any answers. In thirty years of questioning many answers have been given; I can add some more but that is not going to help. So I will give you the solution, not the answer.”
Maulingaputta said, “Okay, give it to me.”
But Buddha said, “It cannot be given by me, it has to be grown in you. So remain for one year with me silently. Not a single question will be allowed. Be totally silent, be with me, and after one year you can ask; then I will give you the answer.”
Sariputta, the chief disciple of Buddha, was sitting nearby under a tree. He began to laugh. Maulingaputta asked, “Why is Sariputta laughing? What is there to laugh about?”
Sariputta said, “Ask right now if you have to ask; do not wait for one year. We have been fooled – this happened to me too – because after one year we never ask. If you have remained totally silent for a year, then the very source of questioning drops. And this man is deceptive! This man is very deceptive,” Sariputta said. “After one year he will not give you any answers.”
So Buddha said, “I will remain with my promise, Sariputta. I have remained with my promise with you, too. It is not my fault that you do not ask.”
One year went by and Maulingaputta remained silent: silently doing meditation and becoming more and more silent outwardly and inwardly. Then he became a silent pool, with no vibrations, no waves. He forgot that the year had passed. The day that he was to ask had come but he himself forgot.
Buddha said, “There used to be a man called Maulingaputta here. Where is he? He has to ask some question. The year has passed; the day has come, so he must come to me.” There were ten thousand monks there and everyone tried to find out who Maulingaputta was. And Maulingaputta also tried to find out where he was!
Buddha called to him and said, “Why are you looking around? You are the man. And I have to fulfill my promise, so you ask and I will give you the answer.”
Maulingaputta said, “The one who was asking is dead; that is why I was looking around to see who this man Maulingaputta is. I too have heard his name, but he is long since gone.”
The original source must be transformed, otherwise we go on asking; and there are persons who will be supplying you with answers. You feel good in asking, they feel good in answering, but what goes on is only a mutual deception.
Stay tuned and seek S-O-L-U-T-I-O-N not answer…!
Source – OSHO Book “Meditation: The Art of Ecstasy”
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