How can Truth be expressed without speaking—and without being silent? Sep 30, 1984

Zen Roshi, Lola McDowell Lee, tells of the puzzled monk who visits Master Fuketsu. He asks, "How can Truth be expressed without speaking—and without being silent?"

Lao Tzu said, he who speaks does not know. And he who knows does not speak.

Then there is the Maha Mudra, or the great gesture.

When you hear a word from a master, there is a silence in the word.

A portion of the great poem by Sri Aurobindo:

The Hour Before The Gods Awake

It was the hour before the Gods awake.

Across the path of the divine Event

The huge foreboding mind of Night, alone

In her unlit temple of eternity,

Lay stretched immobile upon Silence' marge.

Almost one felt, opaque, impenetrable,

In the sombre symbol of her eyeless muse

The abysm of the unbodied Infinite;

A fathomless zero occupied the world.

—-

Lola explains the tale of the king who summoned the 27th Patriarch, Prajnatara, to perform a recitation. But when the master arrived, he remained silent, letting his attendant do the reciting, which, at first, upset the king. And what happened when Prajnatara spoke to the king’s three princes. And who the youngest prince became.

The next time you’re bothered about something, suggests Lola, just let your breathing remain natural. And see what happens.

Then Lola rings her bell, and asks, How do you awaken when you hear the bell? Don’t think. Just listen. Listen not with the ears. Listen with the Mind.

Sep 30, 1984