Sudden Enlightenment in Zen || Acharya Prashant, on Zen Koan (2018)

Acharya Prashant

‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquir...  ⚡ Want Acharya Prashant’s regular updates? Join WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6Z...   Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?...   Want to accelerate Acharya Prashant’s work? Contribute: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/contri...   Want to work with Acharya Prashant? Apply to the Foundation here: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/hiring...  ➖➖➖➖➖➖  Video Information: Shabdyog Session, 25.09.2018, Advait BodhSthal, Greater Noida, India   Context: ~ What is Zen?  ~ How to understand Zen? ~ How to read and reflect on Zen Koans? ~ What is Zen meditation?  ~ How to practice Zen? ~ How to understand Zen stories and parables?   Zen Koan: 'Sudden Enlightenment in Zen' When Banzan was walking through a market he overheard a conversation between a butcher and his customer. “Give me the best piece of meat you have,” said the customer. “Everything in my shop is the best,” replied the butcher. “You cannot find here any piece of meat that is not the best.” At these words Banzan became enlightened.   Music Credits: Milind Date ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Transcript

00:00 When Benzen was walking through a market, he overheard a conversation between a butcher

00:22 and his customer.

00:25 "Give me the best piece of meat you have," said the customer.

00:32 "Everything in my shop is the best," replied the butcher.

00:39 "You cannot find here any piece of meat that is not the best."

00:46 At these words, Benzen became enlightened.

00:52 Now Prachanit is a little baffled and he says, "Pranam Acharya ji, I could not understand

01:07 the Zen stories for this satsang.

01:14 Most of the stories have unfolding of such simple events and yet they end with somebody

01:20 getting enlightened.

01:25 For instance, in this story, the butcher says, "You cannot find here any meat that is not

01:32 the best."

01:34 And Benzen gets enlightened.

01:37 But then every seller says this same thing about the stuff that he is selling.

01:45 What is special in this?

01:47 What did Benzen see in this?

01:50 Obviously, there is nothing special in the statement.

01:56 Obviously, the butcher is not trying to bring enlightenment to Benzen.

02:06 You must appreciate the state of the seeker, Prachanit.

02:13 The seeker might be doing anything, saying anything, eating, walking, sleeping, running,

02:24 playing, whatever.

02:30 His consciousness is actually busy with its core problem.

02:47 He knows what the core issue is.

02:54 He knows the values of the various issues facing him, the relative values.

03:07 So he knows that even in the relative sense, a great question stares at him and the greatness

03:19 of this question far exceeds the worth of all his preoccupations.

03:34 It's almost like having 10 items on your to-do list.

03:40 And item number one has a weight of 100.

03:47 I am talking in a numerical and relative sense.

03:51 Item number one has a weight of 100.

03:57 And items 2 till 10 combined have a weight of 10.

04:05 Now even if you are involved in item number five, what is your inside actually busy with?

04:22 Item number one, that's the state of the seeker.

04:26 He might be doing anything right from 2 till 10, but he is actually always busy with 1.

04:35 And that is the reason he looks a little absent-minded.

04:43 You will see that for yourself and you would read that in many a parables.

04:49 Genuine seekers in advanced stages of their journey start appearing quite lost.

05:00 They even start appearing a little crazy.

05:06 They become very oblivious of their surroundings.

05:11 They are almost absent to what is factually going on around them.

05:21 That also happens in the depths of genuine love.

05:32 Legendary lovers you have read how eccentric they look and behave.

05:45 Somebody is roaming about in rags.

05:54 Somebody has forgotten all etiquette.

06:00 Somebody has lost all concern for food.

06:06 Somebody has given up on all his roles and responsibilities.

06:10 Why?

06:12 Because they are bothered with the one genuine issue that their entire being is struggling

06:20 with.

06:26 But that issue needs to be very very overwhelming.

06:31 That issue needs to be genuinely powerful.

06:41 As we said in the example, that issue needs to have a weightage.

06:46 That is many many times the weightage of all your other issues combined.

06:58 And for the necessities of worldly existence, you will sometimes look at item numbers 4,

07:06 6, 8, 14, 24.

07:10 You will go to purchase food in the market just as this seeker has gone.

07:14 He has gone to get some food from the market.

07:18 But come close to him.

07:22 See what his inner situation is really like.

07:26 He has gone to fetch some food for himself.

07:31 But what is he actually busy with?

07:34 He is busy with the existential question.

07:39 Food is so superficial.

07:43 Even if he does not get food, he won't be too bothered.

07:48 His botheration lies elsewhere.

07:56 Now inside there is this jigsaw puzzle and a piece is missing.

08:06 That piece has to come from somewhere, somewhere, somewhere, somewhere.

08:12 The subconscious is busy processing.

08:14 It is struggling, struggling.

08:16 It's crying out for help.

08:18 It's almost praying.

08:21 It's saying to the Almighty, drop me a clue.

08:26 Give me a hint.

08:27 What am I missing?

08:32 And when you are praying with such fervor, such intensity, such honesty, you do get a

08:39 hint.

08:40 The hint comes to him.

08:43 Benzen is his name.

08:44 The hint does come to him.

08:46 And from whom does the hint come?

08:50 From the butcher.

08:51 Now obviously, the butcher has not planned it out.

08:58 The butcher has no conscious intention of helping Benzen.

09:05 It's Benzen's own authenticity that enables him to quickly get the hint.

09:25 And we are talking about spiritual enlightenment here, Rachneet.

09:31 Even in the material world, many great discoveries have happened when least expected.

09:44 You know how the structure of Benzen was discovered?

09:53 Benzen has a, as you know, hexagonal structure.

10:00 The scientist who was busy trying to figure the shape out, I forget his name, had no idea

10:16 of aromatic rings.

10:22 Rings would have either a linear structure or they would have a tree-like structure.

10:36 So either it would be a straight line or it would be a straight line with branches.

10:43 But that there could be a ring was unknown till that time.

10:52 He was struggling and struggling and he went off to sleep.

11:01 And he has a dream.

11:04 And what does he see?

11:06 He sees six kids dancing in a circle.

11:12 He sees six kids holding each other's hands and dancing in a circle.

11:23 That's the power of genuine inquiry.

11:28 Answers come from somewhere.

11:31 Answers come from sources least expected.

11:45 That's mysticism for you.

11:48 And that is why quants baffle you so much.

11:52 You say, but this is such a simple happening.

11:55 How can somebody get enlightened at this happening?

11:59 Your assumption itself is misplaced.

12:01 Nobody gets enlightened at that particular happening.

12:06 The fellow was already at the precipice.

12:10 The fellow was already at the edge of the cliff.

12:16 The fellow was already standing on the 99th stair.

12:25 The fellow was already home and standing right at the door.

12:31 The happening just did the final honors.

12:39 The happening provided only the final push.

12:43 Are you getting it?

12:46 The happening is not the cause.

12:51 The happening is not the cause.

12:58 Have you read of super saturated solutions, Rachneet?

13:07 What is a super saturated solution?

13:11 So for example, if you take water and start adding sugar to it, the sugar fills up the

13:23 intermolecular spaces in the water.

13:27 That's where the sugar goes.

13:30 And the intermolecular spaces are limited.

13:35 So after a point, no more sugar will dissolve in the water.

13:39 That is called saturation.

13:41 You can only dissolve X grams of sugar in Y grams of water at room temperature and pressure.

13:48 That is called saturation.

13:50 Correct?

13:52 Now you have reached saturation.

13:56 You start boiling the water.

13:58 You start boiling the sugar solution.

14:02 And when you boil the water, what happens?

14:04 The intermolecular spaces increase.

14:08 Now the water can accommodate more sugar.

14:13 You add more sugar and you are able to add and you are able to add and you are able to

14:16 add.

14:19 So instead of X, you have been able to add, let's say 2X grams of sugar to the same Y

14:25 grams of water.

14:29 Now you let the whole thing cool down.

14:36 What would you expect?

14:37 You would expect that now that the solution has cooled down, so the intermolecular spaces

14:42 have reduced.

14:44 So there would be no space for the sugar.

14:47 And therefore, sugar crystals should appear.

14:53 Sugar should now move out from the dissolved state to the undissolved state.

14:59 And you should be able to see crystals.

15:02 That does not happen.

15:08 If you leave the solution untouched, undisturbed, it starts getting cooled.

15:22 The temperature drops, drops and drops and comes down to room temperature.

15:30 And still there is no trace of any sugar crystal.

15:34 That's very strange.

15:35 This is called super saturation.

15:39 This is super saturation.

15:43 Something that should have happened has not happened.

15:48 Something that should have happened has not happened.

15:51 Even though all the right conditions are there.

15:55 But the thing is not happening.

15:58 The fellow at the edge of the cliff is not jumping.

16:01 He should have jumped off by now.

16:04 All the right conditions are there.

16:06 And it's very strange why the final event is still pending.

16:18 Now you have the super saturated solution in front of you.

16:25 Go close to it and just jerk it a little.

16:32 Like this.

16:34 And immediately the whole thing crystallizes.

16:40 Immediately.

16:43 You see beautiful crystals appearing.

16:48 That's what the Zen Koans describe.

16:54 Everything was already in place.

16:58 In fact, the happening should have come about by now.

17:05 The wonder then, Rachneet, is not that how did it happen so suddenly.

17:12 The wonder is that why didn't it happen till now?

17:16 Do you get it?

17:18 You are baffled why did this so-called enlightenment happen so suddenly.

17:25 That is not what you should wonder about.

17:29 The wonder is why had enlightenment not happened so far?

17:35 Because everything was ready.

17:40 The seeker had already done all that he could.

17:46 All the money that he could put in the bank had already been put in.

17:51 Why were the returns not arriving?

17:53 That is the baffling question.

17:55 Not the question that you are putting up.

18:01 And then just a little bit of serendipitous jerk.

18:09 This is serendipity.

18:10 This is grace.

18:12 After you have done everything that you can, grace just comes to provide a little bit of

18:19 jerk.

18:21 Grace actually does nothing.

18:22 You do everything.

18:24 But grace is needed to enable you to have the final push.

18:31 Right?

18:36 And I have heard this question so many times.

18:42 Therefore, it is proper to explain in detail.

18:51 People are incredulous.

18:53 They say this cannot happen.

19:01 The vendor has just said everything in my shop is the best.

19:08 Everything in my shop is the best.

19:10 Now this fellow Benzen heard that and I too am reading that.

19:17 If Benzen could get enlightened upon hearing that, I too should get enlightened upon reading

19:23 that.

19:24 Alright.

19:25 Maybe the power of reading is a little less.

19:28 So I will read it 10 times.

19:29 Now I should get enlightened?

19:31 No enlightenment won't happen because you are not Benzen.

19:36 Benzen was a super saturated solution.

19:38 You are not.

19:39 You are just water.

19:41 You need to add a lot of sugar to yourself.

19:44 And to accommodate more and more sugar, you should allow yourself to be boiled up.

19:55 Unless you are boiled up, how would you expand?

20:01 And if you don't expand, how would you become more sweet?

20:08 No more sugar would come to you.

20:11 You need to be roasted.

20:17 You are not all water, you see.

20:20 Only 70%.

20:23 There is a part of you that needs not only boiling but actually roasting.

20:28 Allow that.

20:32 And then a simple happening would result in crystallization.

20:42 You are walking to the market.

20:43 A kid comes to you and says, "Get me a toffee."

20:52 And in that instant you are enlightened.

20:55 Obviously, the kid does not cause the enlightenment.

21:08 You are playing squash and somebody steals away a point from you.

21:12 And in that moment you are enlightened.

21:20 Very silently, without any decoration or commemoration, you are enlightened.

21:29 This is it.

21:31 All is as clear as the sky.

21:37 But first of all you have to be ready, very very prepared.

21:46 Getting it?

21:50 You know how is water boiled?

21:53 There is a lot of fire below the pot.

22:05 That is tapasya.

22:07 That is practice.

22:11 And without that no food vendor would be of any consequence.

22:24 Now the second and not so important part of the explanation.

22:31 What does the vendor mean when he says, "Every bit of food in my shop is the best."

22:50 The vendor means nothing.

22:51 Therefore, it is pointless telling you what the vendor means.

22:56 I will tell you what Benzen understood.

23:04 The vendor did not say this.

23:07 But this is what Benzen heard.

23:10 I'll tell you what Benzen heard.

23:14 Benzen heard advait.

23:18 Benzen heard non-duality.

23:21 There is nothing here that is second best.

23:26 Not only is everything one, that one is also the best.

23:36 There is no diversity here.

23:37 All is that.

23:39 Which means that you too can never be second best.

23:45 Which means that you are already best.

23:46 Which means that you are already enlightened.

23:48 Ah!

23:49 And Benzen is enlightened.

23:51 Benzen does not become enlightened.

23:54 Benzen just discovers that he is already enlightened.

23:58 That's what the vendor has told him.

24:01 Everything here is the best.

24:02 And who is the best?

24:04 That is the best.

24:06 That alone, the truth alone is the best.

24:09 And that's what Benzen heard.

24:10 Oh!

24:11 I don't need to become the best.

24:13 Everything here is already the best.

24:16 Which means I am already and always that.

24:21 Then what am I searching for?

24:22 The search gets dropped.

24:23 The search gets dropped.

24:24 And that's enlightenment.

24:25 Getting it?

24:26 If you are a genuine seeker, then even ordinary statements coming from any one of the three

24:27 worlds will point towards the ultimate reality.

24:56 Not that the utterers of those statements intend to point at the reality.

25:07 It is you who will be able to decipher and interpret them in a way that is very advanced,

25:20 very sublime.

25:26 That also lies at the core of the course that we had on movie songs.

25:37 Obviously, many a times, the lyricists just didn't mean what we interpreted.

25:51 The lyricists simply said something very, very ordinary, very carnal.

26:04 And we as seekers said, "No, no, no.

26:10 These lines are extraordinary.

26:13 They are pointing at the eternal truth."

26:16 Mostly wherever the lyricist talked of the beauty of the woman, we said, "No, he is

26:27 not at all talking about the beauty of the woman.

26:30 He is talking about the beauty of truth."

26:34 Now had the lyricist really been attending our sessions, he might even have been offended.

26:43 He would have said, "Do I know what I intended or would you tell me?

26:50 I had never thought of those things that you are attributing to me.

26:55 When I say, 'Oh my woman, your eyes are beautiful', I mean the eyes.

27:05 But you are interpreting it as something from the Upanishads.

27:11 I don't mean that."

27:12 Obviously, he didn't mean that.

27:21 It's got very little to do with the lyricist.

27:25 It's got to do with the seeker.

27:31 Be the right seeker.

27:34 Thinking should burn within and then help comes from unexpected places.

28:01 [Music]

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