Joshu: The Lion's Roar

Talks on Zen
Audiobook Series
In stock
The way of Zen is light, weightless. It is beautifully illustrated in this delightful series of talks introducing Joshu, one of Zen’s most loved masters. Only a man of no-mind, such as Osho, can take us into the language of Zen.
Joshu: The Lion's Roar
Click on Chapter Titles below for Details of Each Talk
The way of Zen is light, weightless. It is beautifully illustrated in this delightful series of talks introducing Joshu, one of Zen’s most loved masters. Only a man of no-mind, such as Osho, can take us into the language of Zen.

Excerpt from Chapter 8
“Zen, particularly in the hands of Joshu, becomes a lion’s roar that resounds in faraway mountains and valleys. Only a man who knows life as an experience, not as an explanation, is capable of giving a lion’s roar to wake up other lions. “I have told you the story, a very ancient story, about a lioness giving birth to a cub while she was jumping from one hillock to another hillock. The cub fell into a crowd of sheep and grew up among the sheep. There was no way for him to know that he was not a sheep – perhaps that was the only vegetarian lion in the whole history of animalhood! Absolutely vegetarian, just eating grass. “Even eating grass, he started becoming bigger than the sheep, longer, a beautiful specimen. But the sheep were not afraid; they never thought that he was dangerous. He had grown among them, they had relations with him, friends. Somebody mothered him, somebody was taking care of him; there was no question of being afraid. They were just concerned: what a strange kind of sheep! – looks like a lion, but must be a natural mistake. And they were very happy to have him among them. While they moved in thousands in a crowd, he stood aloof in the middle of them. “One day an old lion saw this phenomenon and could not believe it. He had never seen any lion walking in a crowd of sheep. The moment sheep see a lion, they start escaping – it was a miracle. “The old lion went down to catch hold of the young lion. The sheep started running and the young lion also started running – naturally. He believed he was a sheep. “But the old lion was a man just like Joshu. He got hold of him. He started trembling, and the old lion said, ‘You idiot! You are trembling and weeping and crying and asking that you should be released because you want to join your group. There is something you don’t know, it seems you are unaware, and I will not leave you unless I make you aware. Come with me!’ “He dragged him to a nearby lake. The lake was silent – no ripples, no wind was there. He took the young lion to the edge of the water and told him, ‘Look in the water. Look at my face and your face.’ “Instantaneously, from the young lion, a roar came out. It was not any effort; it was simply the fact of seeing that he is a lion – immediately a roar that resounded in faraway mountains. “The old lion said, ‘My work is done. Now do you know who you are?’ “The young lion thanked the old lion and said, ‘You have been very kind to me. Otherwise my whole life I would have lived chewing grass with the sheep, continuously afraid of being alone. You have given me a new birth.’ “That’s exactly the function of a master: to create a situation in which the lion’s roar comes spontaneously, the recognition of your being. And Joshu was a great craftsman, immensely capable of devising new methods to wake up those who are fast asleep and completely unaware of their being.”
More Information
Publisher Osho Media International
Type Series of Talks