A Listening Heart

The ancient Zen Master, Dogo, had a disciple called Soshin. When Soshin became a novice under Dogo, he doubtless expected that the Master would instruct him in Zen the way a schoolmaster instructs his pupils. But Dogo said nothing special to him, and, indeed, appeared to have no intention of conveying anything unusual to the disciple. Finally Soshin could stand it no longer and reproached his Master for not having shown him anything of Zen. ’But I have been giving you lessons in Zen ever since you arrived, ’ said Dogo.

’Oh?’ said Soshin, ’When could that possibly have been?’
 

’When you bring me my morning tea,’ said Dogo, ’I accept it. When you serve me a meal, I eat it. When you bow to me, I acknowledge it. How else do you expect to learn Zen?’ Tao can be shared but cannot be divided. Tao can be shown but cannot be said.

The Master lives in Tao. The disciple has to imbibe the spirit of it. It is not a teaching, it cannot be a teaching – all teachings are superficial. It has to be deeper than a teaching. It has to be an energy transfer. It has to be heart to heart, soul to soul, body to body. It cannot be verbal. And the disciple has to see, watch, observe, feel, love the energy that is manifesting in the Master. Slowly slowly, by and by, just sitting by the side of the Master, the disciple learns many secrets, although they are never taught.

One of the greatest secrets is that sitting by the Master’s side, the disciple starts breathing in the same way the Master breathes. There arises a synchronicity. And in that synchronicity the two meet. It happens to lovers too. If you are in deep love with someone, sitting side by side, sitting together with your beloved, if you observe, you will be surprised that suddenly, for no reason at all, not cultivated by you, you are breathing in the same way. When the beloved exhales, you exhale. When the beloved inhales, you inhale. And suddenly you are connected, linked together. Breath is of immense importance. That’s how the mother is connected with the child. And sometimes the distance may even be of a thousand miles between the child and the mother but the mother’s heart is immediately affected if the child is in danger. Their breathing is so connected – they breathe alike. And there is an obvious reason for it. The child in the mother’s womb was breathing through the mother for nine months. He had no breath of his own. It was his mother’s breath, and he was simply following the mother’s breathing. The mother was breathing for him, on his behalf; for nine months they lived in a deep synchronicity. Even after the child is born, it continues. If there is real love, it can continue for the whole of their lives.

The Secret of Secrets 

Osho