The Rose Apple Experience


(The story of the Buddha-to-be’s Choiceless Meditation)


Based on the life of the Buddha / re-told by M. Zohar


[for a PDF file of the text: read / download ]


One day, when Siddhartha was a child, he played with his friends, and after playing he sat down to rest in the shade of a Rose Apple tree. There, to his surprise, naturally and quite effortlessly, he experienced for the first time the peace and joy of meditation.

Many years later, after exhausting himself in ascetic discipline, meditative efforts and self-deprivation, Siddhartha suddenly remembered that innocent childhood experience under the Rose Apple tree, so joyous and peaceful, so wonderfully light and free. Therefore he let go of his misdirected practices, nourished his body and mind, and continued his meditation in a way that is gentle and kind, at ease with all that is – simply being present in open awareness, as love filled his heart and his life.