WHEN WILL YOU START DANCING?

 

A Zen master Horen pointed at the mat of meditation that was not folded by a Zen monk after the meditation got over. Two Zen Monks realized their mistake and stood up to fold the mat. After they did their job, Horen said, "First Monk is doing good, Second Monk is not!" 

Let me tell you a story to explain this story. Two workers were working to build a temple. They were hired by some king to do their job. When being asked, one of the workers said, "I am working to get paid, I have to find food to eat!"  

When the other one was asked, He said, "Bhagwaan ka ghar ban raha hai!, Jo thoda bahut kar sakun, apna yogdaan de rha hun, Isi se kuch paise mil jayenge, toh Khana bhi kha lunga!" 

In the world of Adhyatman, Intent matters. Not the actual deed. Do not think about Labour rights right now, just think about the way the second laborer approaches life. For him, his work is a way to worship something that he has a deep respect for. For the first one, it is just a desperate cry to get the job done and get food. May be Food is something he will finally be able to worship. But it is difficult for him. The person who does not know how to worship, will find it difficult to worship anything. 

Karl Marx critiques religion. I subscribe to his view as well. He critiques that vision of religion which hides the pain of the laborer and wishes to console him and silent his anger towards the injustice he faces. 

But Dharma is different. The laborer that does his work as a worship is a different laborer. He is not in delusion. He knows that he is getting robbed. But it is so fulfilling to do his job, that 2-3 rupees is not worth leaving the job and fighting for it. 

Karl Marx will write for the workers. He wrote also. The way world works, A more empathetic saint than Karl Marx, never was born in Europe. Perhaps Jesus Christ. But not more. 

Intent matters. All your life you complain that nobody understood you. Nobody understood your intentions. You always wanted to do something good, but people judged your goodness by your deeds. Adhytama is a place where only intent matters. 

Bhagwaan Bhaav ke bhookhe hain.

 All the world judges you on your deeds. Even the closest to you. Your family has some demands from you as a noble son. If you deviate from it, may be once or twice they will let go, but after that, you will be getting mistreatment. Your spouse judges you to be in a certain way. Your friends want you to be a certain way. If you deviate from that behavior, things can go wrong. 

Even you! Why the 21st Century man is so depressed? Byung Chul Han, the Korean Post-modernist Philosopher, writes in his book, "The Burnout Society", There is left no personal space for man, where he does not judge himself. All the time, Man is man's worst critic. The Master and slave exists within the same person in the 21st Century. Even if the slave rests for one second, the Feudal master used to slap him. 
21st Century master guilts the slave. Have you ever procrastinated and then afterwards felt guilty for doing so? You, the master, is beating you, the slave. The depressed man is depressed because he judges himself even in his sleep. And He judges solely on the basis of deeds, never intent. 

Do you ever reward yourself because you had a good intention? Never, right? Do you give yourself even a chocolate for a job well intended? No, right? You don't even reward yourself for a job well done.

How cruel a master is you? 

 You slave will one day die. But with the slave dies the master as well. Because the body of both is same. When the rope is tightened around the neck from a fan, dies only one person, howsoever people live in that body. 

But, Vibhat, the world rewards only a job done and not a job well thought. Yes! I concur. 

But, think, 

1. Are you also world to yourself? Will you not treat yourself with care, respect and nurture?

2. In Adhyatman, A job well thought is actually a job well done. Because we deal with psyche only. Mind, beyond mind stuff. So, thoughts, intentions and instincts become important. 

3. I do no mean that job well done is not required. But the path to job well done begins with a job well intended. not the other way around. What happens in the world, that people just wish to get the job done. 

Just make me an IAS and see what I will do. What will you do? What else can you do what you are not doing right now. If you are dishonest with the preparation, you will be dishonest with the job you will get after preparation. 

One aspirant will say, I just want this job anyhow. I want to become an IAS. I will work hard. put everything on stake. I just want it anyhow. This person wishes to do it "Anyhow". What does he mean? How many ways are there? Ideally, there is just one way, work hard and wait. There is no other way. But he is saying, he will clear it anyhow. It means, if he gets the leaked paper one night before exam, it also comes in his purview of "Anyhow". He means it. He will cheat. This is not aspiration. This is desperation. 

Another aspirant will say, I am making me suitable candidate for becoming an IAS. I will try. I will work hard, And I will wait. I will do whatever it takes. Look at the words. Look at his intentions. "Whatever it takes". Any Yagya, any tapasya, takes something from you. It demands blood. 

"Balidaani veeron ki dharti, Khoon maangti taaja re..."

Whatever it takes, is a calm declaration of aspiration. A calm declaration of sacrifice. That he will do it and then move on like nothing happened. A dream well dreamt is a dream where the dreamer knows that he is dreaming. He is in aspiration, not desperation. 

Coming back to the story, The Zen Master must have seen that one of the monks instantly became guilty and ran to rectify it. It was so violent. It was anti-meditation. Meditation has no value if it cannot be kept after it ends. The Monks meditated, then folded their meditations and kept in somewhere and forgot, but they could not fold their mats. 

The Zen master says first monk is doing good. What the first monk did? He meditated; he still is. Even in folding the mat. He forgot too. But he does not feel guilty about his mistake. He first unfolded his meditation back, he kept his calm, accepted that he did wrong and then stood up and did his job. He gave himself time. Another one just ran for his life. Oh! My master will get angry. My master will judge me. Oh! My mistake. Oh! I forgot. Why are you in a hurry? And why are you reaching nowhere? 

Mann na rangaaye jogi, Rangaaye jogi Kapda...?

Why this hurry to fold the mat. To get your robes get colored orange. Why this hurry for being a monk? To follow discipline. To show the world how great a monk is you? How responsible?  Our all jobs are like that. Our rectification of mistakes is a way to show the world that we are responsible, not an expression of responsibility. That is why a Jogi wants his orange robes, and not his silent colorless mind, a mind like an empty canvas where a rainbow can shine. 

Zen Master Horen wants to teach us about Intent and its importance, not only in Spirituality but also in life. Without pure intent, is a job done is just a job undone. Completion of a task, if is the sole thing you desire, may be Spirituality is not for you. But so is life. Not for you. Life worth living are of those monks who do their jobs present in the moment such that the intent is doing the job like it is the ultimate meditation, the ultimate bhajan, the ultimate dance.

God is like a dancer. He dances. But you are still not dancing. Just pondering about dancing? You are still not dancing. You are still not dancing. You are still not dancing. The music is playing, and you are still not dancing. He is dancing but you are still not dancing. And if you are, you stop. Why do you stop? God does not stop dancing. He is still dancing; you are still not dancing. Alas! When will you start to dance? 

I will write again in big Bold letters to remind you....

WHEN WILL YOU START DANCING ON THE MUSIC OF INTENT AND STOP THE NOISE OF JUDGEMENT OF DEEDS?