He said, “I am not harassing, I am being harassed. You were right that I should think twice, but I did not think of all these problems, that people would be so angry.”

So the child also became a sannyasin.

They still come here. They live in Bombay, and some day you may see all the three.

Before you start smoking a cigarette, remember: it is going to create unhealthiness in you, in your lungs, and a shorter life. And most importantly, it is taking away your drive, your urgency towards meditation. You relax with your cigarette, then what is the need of the rest that Hyakujo talks about. The nicotine gives a little restfulness. There is no need for any meditation – just more and more cigarettes.

I am not a man who is dogmatic in any way, but I will not put you in any discomfort. If you become sad and dull, and you start losing the joy of life, then it is okay, continue with the cigarettes. But remember, the responsibility is now greater on you to get into meditation. Only if in meditation you can get a deeper rest than nicotine can give you, will dropping cigarettes be easy.

But two fools are in trouble. Why are other idiots, who are almost out of the trouble, immediately jumping into it? Before withdrawal symptoms, you withdraw from the cigarettes. So anybody who has started, stop immediately. And anybody who has already stopped before, and has overcome the withdrawal symptoms, should not start again.

Always interpret whatever I say as my compassion and my love. I don’t want you to be in unnecessarily uncomfortable states. So if I make somebody an exception, it does not mean I am making a rule for everybody.

At least in Buddha Hall air, no smoke smell should be here. This you should take as a warning. If I smell tomorrow again the smell, I will immediately go back.

Now the introductory note about Hyakujo:

As mentioned before, Hyakujo was the originator of the Zen monastery. The duties of the abbot and other officers were carefully defined, and the lives of the monks regulated in detail.

In addition, Hyakujo encouraged his monks to work in the fields during the day. This was quite a revolutionary move, as before Hyakujo’s time, monks were not supposed to engage in productive work, but were entirely dependent on gifts from people by which to live.

Certainly it was a great revolutionary move, to make sannyasins work in the fields, in the orchards, because for centuries they had not done anything. Society had taken the responsibility to take care of them, but there was a limit.