Then you have started

Posted at 5:42, 9.5.2007

Truth is always the same -- dreams change, truth is always the same. Be acquainted with Buddha's words but don't remain there. That is just an introduction -- move from there. By and by, fall in tune with silence. By and by, forget the cloud, and enter the sky. Then you are really in tune. Then you have started moving into truth itself. Words are about truth, they are not truth themselves. The word God is just a word, it is not God. The word love is just a word, it is not love. Use the word, then throw it away. It is the container, not the content. With a master, don't become too much attached with his body. That attachment will become a barrier. Love the master, but go deeper. Slowly slowly, step by step, penetrate his innermost core. And you will be surprised -- because the innermost is the same. In the innermost, the disciple and the master meet. In the innermost there is no distinction. Kabir has said a very strange sentence: "The moment has come when the master touches the feet of the disciple." Then there is no distinction. Who is the master and who is the disciple -- there is no distinction.

 When Rinzai was with his master -- the master was a very very hard master, as Zen masters are -- Rinzai was beaten so many times, was thrown, and the master would jump on him and beat him. Then one day Rinzai was going on a journey, a pilgrimage, and the master called him and started beating him. Rinzai said, "But I have not even said a single word! And I have not done anything." The master said, "l know, but you are going on this pilgrimage and my feeling is that when you come back you will be enlightened and I will never have any chance to beat you again. That's why -- this is the last chance."

And when Rinzai came back, yes, it had happened. The master bowed his head and said, "Now you can beat me." Not that Rinzai has beaten the master, but the master says, "Now you can beat me. Now you enjoy -- I have enjoyed beating you so much. You have arrived home."

At the innermost core there is no distinction. Buddha is saying don't be too much concerned with the words. Use them as steps, stepping-stones. Don't be too much concerned with Buddha's movements, bodily movements. People are there, imitative people, who will start walking like the Buddha, who will start talking like the Buddha, who will start using the same words, the same gestures. Buddha is saying those are not the real things. The real thing is beyond forms. It cannot be imitated.

Don't imitate. Only then one day will you be able to become a man of tao. Love, listen, but always remember that you have to go far in. You have to transcend all clouds.