Milarepa and the false teacher
The real thing is not a path. The real thing is the authenticity of the seeker. Let me emphasize this.
You can travel on any path. If you are sincere and authentic, you will reach the goal. Some paths may be hard, some may be easier, some may have greenery on both sides, some may be moving through deserts, some may have beautiful scenery around them, some may not have any scenery around them, that's another thing; but if you are sincere and honest and authentic and true, then each path leads to the goal.
So it simply can be reduced to one thing: that authenticity is the path. No matter what path you follow, if you are authentic, every path leads to the goal. And the opposite is also true: no matter what path you follow, if you are not authentic you will not reach anywhere. Your authenticity brings you back home, nothing else. All paths are secondary. The basic thing is to be authentic, to be true.
You can travel on any path. If you are sincere and authentic, you will reach the goal. Some paths may be hard, some may be easier, some may have greenery on both sides, some may be moving through deserts, some may have beautiful scenery around them, some may not have any scenery around them, that's another thing; but if you are sincere and honest and authentic and true, then each path leads to the goal.
So it simply can be reduced to one thing: that authenticity is the path. No matter what path you follow, if you are authentic, every path leads to the goal. And the opposite is also true: no matter what path you follow, if you are not authentic you will not reach anywhere. Your authenticity brings you back home, nothing else. All paths are secondary. The basic thing is to be authentic, to be true.
It is reported about one great mystic, Milarepa:
When he went to his master in Tibet he was so humble, so pure, so authentic, that other disciples became jealous of him. It was certain that he would be the successor. And of course there was politics, so they tried to kill him.
One day they said to him, "If you really believe in the master, can you jump from the hill? If you really believe, if the trust is there, then nothing, no harm, is going to happen." And Milarepa jumped without even hesitating for a single moment. They rushed down... because it was almost a three-thousand-foot deep valley. They went down to find his scattered bones--but he was sitting there in a lotus posture, very happy, tremendously happy. He opened his eyes and said, "You are right, trust protects."
They thought it must be some coincidence, so when a house was on fire one day they told him, "If you love your master and you trust, you can go in." He rushed in to save the woman and the child who were left inside. He rushed in, and the fire was so great that the other disciples were hoping that he would die--but when he came back out with the woman and child, he was not burned at all. And he became more and more radiant, because the trust....
One day they were going somewhere, they were to cross a river, and they told him, "You need not go in the boat. You have such great trust, you can walk on the river"--and he walked.
That was the first time the master saw him. He was not aware that Milarepa had been told to jump into the valley and told to go into the burning house. But that time he was there on the bank and he saw Milarepa walking on the water and he said, "What are you doing? It is impossible!"
And Milarepa said, "Not impossible at all! I am doing it by your power, sir."
Now the Master thought, "If my name and my power can do this to this ignorant, stupid man.... I have never tried it myself,"...so he tried. He drowned. Nothing has been heard about him after that.
When he went to his master in Tibet he was so humble, so pure, so authentic, that other disciples became jealous of him. It was certain that he would be the successor. And of course there was politics, so they tried to kill him.
One day they said to him, "If you really believe in the master, can you jump from the hill? If you really believe, if the trust is there, then nothing, no harm, is going to happen." And Milarepa jumped without even hesitating for a single moment. They rushed down... because it was almost a three-thousand-foot deep valley. They went down to find his scattered bones--but he was sitting there in a lotus posture, very happy, tremendously happy. He opened his eyes and said, "You are right, trust protects."
They thought it must be some coincidence, so when a house was on fire one day they told him, "If you love your master and you trust, you can go in." He rushed in to save the woman and the child who were left inside. He rushed in, and the fire was so great that the other disciples were hoping that he would die--but when he came back out with the woman and child, he was not burned at all. And he became more and more radiant, because the trust....
One day they were going somewhere, they were to cross a river, and they told him, "You need not go in the boat. You have such great trust, you can walk on the river"--and he walked.
That was the first time the master saw him. He was not aware that Milarepa had been told to jump into the valley and told to go into the burning house. But that time he was there on the bank and he saw Milarepa walking on the water and he said, "What are you doing? It is impossible!"
And Milarepa said, "Not impossible at all! I am doing it by your power, sir."
Now the Master thought, "If my name and my power can do this to this ignorant, stupid man.... I have never tried it myself,"...so he tried. He drowned. Nothing has been heard about him after that.
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