Catching the Lizard

Potila was a very respected monk who lived at the time of The Buddha. He was very well familiar with The Buddha’s lectures and could repeat and explain the teachings better than anybody. Potila was a charismatic person with a strong personality, his discourses were stirring, and on top of that he was very loyal to The Buddha and his spiritual way. As one of the most outstanding monks in north India, Potila was well appreciated and eventually became in charge of over eighteen monasteries.

One day Potila came to see The Buddha, who was glad to see him and said: "Welcome, venerable empty book". They talked about many things and when it was time to depart The Buddha said: "are you leaving so soon, venerable empty book?"

Potila was embarrassed and he wondered why did The Buddha call him twice empty book. What exactly did he mean by "empty book"?
Potila thought it over, contemplated and searched through all of the knowledge that he had gathered. Eventually he understood: A monk who only studies but does not practice is no more than an empty book. He understood that although he knew all of The Buddha’s words by heart, he had neglected the actual practice and had missed the understanding, which is beyond words.

Potila began looking for someone who would teach him meditation, but all of the teachers around hesitated and nobody dared to be Potila's teacher. Eventually he went to see a young monk whom The Buddha had declared to be enlightened.

The young monk agreed happily and told Potila that the purpose of meditation is to learn through observation: "There is an inner process that expresses itself as thoughts, and meditation is when you listen to your own thoughts as if you were listening to someone else speaking. Gradually, a distinction is created between the speaker and the listener. Find the listener in you and become a Buddha yourself."

In order to explain the technique he gave Potila an example: "Suppose we want to catch a lizard that is hiding in a mound of sand. This mound has six holes and out of one it will surely escape. The best way to catch it is to block five holes and patiently wait in front of the sixth. The five we are to block are the five senses. When we sit in meditation, unmoving and with a straight back, we are not dealing with taste, touch, smell, sight or speech. Thoughts are the sixth hole, and most of the time we are not even aware of that, but when you block the five and create silence, in that silence you will be able to hear the lizard running inside the mound. When eventually it comes out you will be able to catch it without letting go."

Potila started following his own thoughts and became aware of the endless jumps they took from one topic to another and immediately jumping to something else. He listened to the criticism, ideas, doubts and all the fears that were continuously rising in him. He understood that thoughts veil reality by creating ideas about it. He learned to see the sophisticated lies that hide inside the head and began to understand the vastness of self-deception. He realized that the circle of ever-changing pleasure and pain is just an illusion. It was not long before Potila caught his lizard by its tail.

Try to listen to your own thoughts as if they were somebody else speaking. If this "somebody" is nice and relaxed, your are not in too much trouble, but if this voice creates criticism and guilt, unwarily, it has created an unpleasant reality for you, making you believe that this is how things are.

In Zen monasteries you sit silently for three months facing the wall. All the exit holes are blocked – there is no talking, no writing and no reading. In the silence of the meditation hall, you can hear only your thoughts and the slow ticking of the clock hanging on the wall. Tick… long gap… tock… long gap, only two more seconds have gone by. After the first couple of weeks you feel like you are going insane, as the lizard bumps its head into every possible corner.

It takes quite a while before you start hearing your thoughts as though they are coming from someone else. Then, as this "someone" starts to repeat himself over and over again, you will gradually stop taking him seriously. Slowly, you will begin to become detached from the river of unpleasant thoughts. In the next stage, as you become even more detached, the gaps between your thoughts become wider.

Then one day,
In a big gap between the thoughts,
You suddenly hear a bird calling,
And another bird answering.
Listening carefully, you realize they are having a conversation.
One says this, the other says that,
Then one flies away… what has happened?
Maybe it was offended?
But then there is another flapping of wings
Following the same direction,
and with a heart full of wonder you fly along,
in unfamiliar happiness,
which consists of nothing but freedom.