I am indebted to Anurag Anand Nirman and to Vanda Mikoloski who
inspired this conversation.
It's an old joke. A man meets the Buddha. He asks him "Do you drink?".
The Buddha says "No. Drinking is a distraction from the
eight-fold path.". The man asks him "Do you smoke?". The
Buddha says "No. Smoking is also a distraction from the eight-fold
path.". The man asks him "Do you make love?". The Buddha says "No.
Making love is another distraction from the eight-fold path.".
Incredulous, the man says "What? You don't drink? You don't smoke? You
don't make love? What do you do for fun?". The Buddha, laughing,
says "I tell lies.".
It's this kind of self-deprecating humor ie not taking
oneself too seriously which for me is an indication of
authenticmastery.
If there's a path to
mastery,
then in order to discover the path to
mastery,
you have to discover there's no path to
mastery.
There's no path. We're already here.
If there's anything to get to realize
mastery,
then in order to get what there is to get to realize
mastery,
you have to get there's
nothing to get
to realize
mastery.
There's
nothing to get.
THIS IS IT!
So if the Buddha is really the Buddha, then for
him it's not significant that he's the Buddha. Not
drinking, not smoking, not making love ... that's all very pious, very
reverent, and of course very spiritual. Except when they're
"in order to" stay on the path to
masteryand there's no path to
mastery,
then their significance has outlived their usefulness.
In the joke I told, the Buddha restores the correct perspective of
not being significant, of no path, of
nothing to get,
by laughing about telling lies. However, the Buddha's nature is
slippery.
He may be lying about telling lies ... in which case and
you and I would never know if he's lying or if he's
telling the truth. In this
Zen
vignette, it's actually inconsequential if he's lying or if he's
telling the truth. All the Buddha has to do is interfere with the man's
significance making
machinery
enough for him to have an "A-Ha!" moment, enough for his
Self
to break through unencumbered by his
ego
for just one split second, enough for
who he really is
to burst forth like a naked
presence
and stand there
with nothing going on,
having a good laugh at the joke.
But that's when the Buddha's telling a joke (and what's a Buddha worth
if he doesn't have a sense of humor?). Notice a Buddha doesn't have to
tell a joke to cause a
breakthrough.
All a Buddha has to do is interfere with the
significance making
machinery
enough to cause an "A-Ha!" moment, enough for the
Self
to break through unencumbered by the
ego
for just one split-second, enough for
who we really are
to burst forth like a naked
presence
and stand here
with nothing going on,
having a good laugh fornoreason.
That's all you have to do. Anyone can do it. There's nothing out of the
ordinary
about it. That's why I call you Joe the Buddha. As in "an
ordinary
Joe". As in the guy next door Joe. As in the guy on the bus Joe. As
in the gal next door Joe, for that matter. As in the
gal on the bus Joe. A gal, after all, can also be an
ordinary
Joe.
That's you, guys and gals. You're all Joe the Buddha.