A monk is going to spread Gautam Buddha’s message. He himself is not enlightened yet; that’s why Gautam Buddha calls him and tells him, “Remember, I have to say this because you are not enlightened yet… you are articulate, you speak well, you can spread the message. You may not be able to sow the seeds but you may be able to attract a few people to come to me — but use this opportunity also for your own growth.”
The monk asked, “What can I do, how can I use this opportunity?”
And Buddha said, “There is only one thing that can be done in every opportunity, in every situation, and that is watchfulness. You will sometimes find people irritated by you, angry because you have hurt their ideologies, their doctrines, their prejudices. Remain silent and watchful. You may have days when you cannot get food because the people are against you, they will not even give you water. Watch… watch your hunger, watch your thirst… but don’t get irritated, don’t get annoyed. What you will be teaching people is of less importance than your own watchfulness.
If you come back to me watchful, I will be immensely joyful. How many people you approached does not matter; how many people you spoke to does not matter. What ultimately matters is whether you have come home, whether you yourself have found the solid basis of witnessing. Then all else is insignificant.” This is the only meditation there is; all other meditations are variations of the same phenomenon.
