SATO-KAISEKI WAS VERY MUCH DISTURBED BY THE IMPLICATIONS OF COPERNICUS' HELIOCENTRIC THEORY, WHICH, OF COURSE, WAS INCONSISTENT WITH THE OLD BUDDHIST COSMOLOGY IN WHICH MOUNT SUMERU OCCUPIES THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE. HE REASONED THAT IF THE BUDDHIST VIEW OF THE COSMOS WERE PROVED FALSE, THE TRIPLE WORLD, AND THE TWENTY-FIVE FORMS OF EXISTENCE WOULD BE REDUCED TO NONSENSE -- RESULTING IN THE NEGATION OF BUDDHISM ITSELF. SO HE IMMEDIATELY SET ABOUT WRITING A BOOK IN DEFENCE OF THE MOUNT SUMERU POSITION, SPARING HIMSELF NO EFFORT.

WHEN HE HAD FINISHED THE WORK HE TOOK IT AT ONCE TO MASTER EKIDO AND PRESENTED IT TRIUMPHANTLY.

AFTER LEAFING THROUGH THE FIRST FEW PAGES THE MASTER THRUST IT BACK, SHAKING HIS HEAD AND SAYING: 'HOW STUPID! DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT THE AIM OF BUDDHISM IS TO SHATTER THE TRIPLE WORLD AND THE TWENTY-FIVE FORMS OF EXISTENCE? WHY STICK TO SUCH UTTERLY WORTHLESS THINGS AND TREASURE MOUNT SUMERU? BLOCKHEAD!'

DUMBFOUNDED, KAISEKI SHOVED THE BOOK UNDER HIS ARM AND QUICKLY WENT HOME.

METAPHYSICS is nonsense, but even then it must be serving some object, otherwise it would not have existed -- so long. Man finds himself helpless -- in a strange world, unfamiliar... not only unknown, but unknowable also. This darkness, this cloud of unknowing, disturbs the human mind tremendously. Somehow he has to console himself. Somehow he has to create knowledge.

Even if that knowledge is not true knowledge, it will give an appearance that you are grounded. It will give an appearance that you are not absolutely helpless. You can pretend through it that you are not a stranger in this world -- a chance, a coincidence -- but a master. At least you can play with words and do whatsoever you like with words and can create a false illusion of your power.

This is what metaphysics has always been doing. It gives you a sense of power where in fact no power exists in you. It gives you an illusion of knowledge where no knowledge really exists.

The very word 'god' becomes substantial. Just by using the word 'god', you feel as if you are doing something, as if you are relating to existence, as if you are not alone, a helpless child on the earth, but a father is taking care of you in heaven -- continuously watching, worrying about you, about your welfare.

This is a very childish attitude -- but man is helpless. And there are very few men who really become mature. Men remain childish.

And remember the difference between childishness and the innocence of children. To be childish is to be stuck somewhere. To be like children is to be simply innocent, flowing, with no blocks in your being.

Man remains childish. The psychological age remains around about twelve; it never goes beyond that. You may become sixty, seventy, eighty -- your physical body goes on moving in time -- but your mind is stuck somewhere around about ten or twelve at the most.

One thing: metaphysics -- words like 'god', 'nirvana', 'enlightenment', almost become things. You start believing in words. If somebody suddenly shouts, 'Fire!' a fear arises in you; you start running. You can create a nuisance in any theatre at night. When the lights are put off, suddenly shout, 'Fire! Fire!' and people will start running.

The very word 'fire' creates the illusion as if there is fire and life is in danger. The very word 'lemon'... think about it, meditate on it, and saliva starts flowing in your mouth. The very word 'lemon'? It has nothing in it. But man has become addicted to words.

There is a school of linguists called The General Semantics Group, founded by Alfred Korzybski. They have a little song; it is relevant. Their song is:

Oh, the word is not the thing,

the word is not the thing.

Hi ho the derry-o

the word is not the thing.

That is their essential teaching.

Of course, you cannot be burned by the word 'fire', and you cannot get wet from the word 'water'. But the word 'god', the word 'religion', the word 'christ', the word 'buddha'? How many people have sacrificed their lives for these words?

Somebody insults christianity -- what is he doing? Christianity is a word -- but christians are offended; there is going to be bloodshed. Humanity has been fighting and fighting for words --  'country', 'liberty', 'socialism', 'the flag' -- and millions of people have died. Words have become more significant than life itself. This is a sort of madness.

So metaphysics is not only nonsense, it is also madness -- of course, with a method. It is very methodological. Metaphysicians go on building skyscrapers of words -- the tower of babel. They go on building it.

And once you are caught in the words, the reality recedes farther away from you. You start living behind a wall of words. And a wall of words is stronger than any wall. Even a wall of stones, rocks, is not so strong.

The strength of words lies in their being transparent: you can go on looking through them and you will never become aware that you are looking through words. They are almost invisible, transparent -- like pure glass. You can stand near a window. If the glass is really pure, you will not become aware of the glass. You will think that the window is open and you are seeing the sky and the trees and the sun rising, and you will never become aware that there is a glass between you and the reality.

Metaphysics is a glass. It goes on hiding you from reality, and it goes on distorting reality.

People cling to words because they don't know what reality is. So they start believing in words -- it is a make-believe. At least it gives a sense that you know. When you use the word 'god', suddenly you feel as if you know god. You don't know anything about god, you only know the word 'god'. That too you have only heard, but it has become your foundation rock.

One Dutch poet and thinker, Huub Oosterhuis, has written in his diary: I heard someone crying 'God' in a broken voice, and I saw someone else muttering. I asked him, 'What are you muttering about?' He said, 'I am praying to god,' but neither of them could tell me whether he had received any answer. 'Then why do you both keep calling upon him? When the answer has never come to you, why do you go on praying?' I asked. They both answered, 'Keeping quiet is even worse.'

You go on praying, you go on believing, because to live without belief needs tremendous courage. You go on praying because just keeping quiet, you become more afraid.

Have you watched yourself? Sometimes when passing through a lonely street on a dark night, you start singing and whistling. What are you doing? That is metaphysics. You are creating a sense that you are not alone. Whistling, listening to your own voice, gives a feeling as if somebody else is there also. It warms you up.

Singing -- and if you are a religious person, then praying -- and you feel that god is there and everything is okay. For the moment you become occupied in your singing, in your praying, in your utterances, in your whistling. You become so occupied that you forget that the night is dark, and the street is lonely and there is danger everywhere.

Because of death, man goes on whistling. That whistling is metaphysics. One goes on avoiding the fact that death is. One goes on avoiding the fact that your life may just be a chance coincidence. There may be no creator. There may be nobody who is controlling. Once you understand that there is nobody who is controlling, you will be in a panic. Then anything can go wrong, any moment, and you will not be able to even complain. There is nobody to complain to.

Metaphysics creates a dream world around you, of beautiful words -- heaven, paradise, for you; hell for others. Hell for the enemies, heaven for you. These are wish-fulfillments.

Psychologists have become aware of a certain state which every child has to pass. Have you watched small children? They become addicted to certain things -- a rag-doll, or a piece of blanket, or anything will do -- the thing is immaterial. Whatsoever is handy, they will catch hold of it, and by and by that certain object becomes almost sacred, religious. You cannot take that object away without hurting the child. He will go to sleep with the rag-doll. Every child is a Linus with his blanket. It gives security.

And that object is not an ordinary object -- it has a special quality to it. It has to be understood, because the whole metaphysics is the blanket of the child, the rag-doll.

If you take the rag-doll, the child cannot go to sleep; he is missing something. That is his TM, transcendental meditation. That is his prayer -- that rag-doll is his god.

To you, that rag-doll seems outside. To the child, it is not outside his being; it is part of his innermost being. That rag-doll exists somewhere on the boundary of inside and outside. The outside is the world of objects and the inside is the world of your being, and that rag-doll exists just on the boundary, part of both. In a sense, part of the world; in a sense, part of your innermost being. It is the most strange thing in the world -- but it gives security, it protects you. You never feel alone; you are always occupied.

It becomes a ritual. The first thing in the morning the child will look for is his rag-doll. If it is there then everything is okay; things are in their place. He goes to sleep with it; first thing in the morning, he looks for it. If the rag-doll is there then everything is still okay; nothing is disturbed. That rag-doll is his world.

He has systematized the world. The world is vast and the child is impotent. He cannot boss over the world, but he can boss over the rag-doll. With the rag-doll, he becomes a master. With the world, he is just a helpless child in the hands of others... too big too incomprehensible.

With the rag-doll, he is no more a small child; he is somebody big, a boss. He can do whatsoever he wants with the rag-doll: he can throw it, he can be angry at it, he can beat it. Then he can praise it and persuade it and love it and hug it and kiss it. And whatsoever he wants he can do, and the rag doll is absolutely impotent. He is the absolute master of the situation.

All metaphysics is of the same quality. Your gods or your rag-dolls... your Linus is still holding a piece of blanket.

If you really want to know what life is, all rag-dolls have to be dropped, shattered. All illusions have to be shattered so that you can become capable of knowing what truly is. All make-believes have to be dropped.

People go on hiding behind their make-believes. They are your caves. No light enters, no fresh air comes -- but you feel protected. Your beliefs almost become your death -- but still you feel protected. That's why I always say that a religious man is the most courageous man. in the world. And there is no other way to live life than to be ready to face the danger of it.

I have heard an anecdote:

"During a yiddish play, the curtain fell suddenly and the manager of the theatre stepped out before the audience, in the last degree of agitation.

'Ladies and gentlemen,' he said, 'I'm distressed to have to tell you that the great and beloved actor, Mendel Kalb, has just had a fatal heart-attack in his dressing-room and we cannot continue.'

Whereupon a formidable, middle-aged woman in the balcony rose and cried out, 'Quick! Give him some chicken soup!'

The manager, surprised, said, 'Madam, I said it was a fatal heart attack. The great Mendel Kalb is dead.'

The woman repeated, 'So quick! Give him some chicken soup.'

The manager screeched in desperation, 'Madam! The man is dead! What good will chicken soup do?'

And the woman shouted back, 'What harm?'"

All metaphysics... at the most, one thing can be said in its favour -- it cannot do any harm. It is chicken soup to a dead man. Nothing good comes out of it. Nothing can come out of it -- mere words, mere play of words. Nothing good can come out of it. Of course, no harm also. It is a futile activity; not even harm comes out of it.

And remember, something can be harmful only if it can be beneficial also. If it cannot be harmful, it cannot be beneficial. If something can be beneficial then it can be harmful also; then it depends on how it is used. Poison is harmful: it can be beneficial, it can become medicinal. It depends on how you use it.

But with metaphysics, there are mere words. But the human mind tends to believe in words. By and by it completely forgets that the reality is not in the words; it is beyond the words. It has to be approached through silence. It has to be approached through meditation, not through mind. If your mind goes on creating more and more rows of words, you will be continuously in a futile activity -- much ado about nothing.

But why do people cling to their metaphysical attitudes? They cling, because if they drop those metaphysical attitudes -- they call them philosophies, religion, christianity, hinduism, buddhism -- if you drop them, suddenly you are naked. If you drop them, suddenly your trembling child is there -- without the rag-doll. If you drop them, then you don't know who you are. If you drop them, suddenly you lose your identity. Your name, your form, everything starts disappearing... you start falling into an abyss -- that is the fear.

People go on clinging to words. Words create more words. Words create more questions and more answers are needed, and then answers create more questions again, and so on and so forth.

There is a story of a workman who had been mortally wounded:

"A priest was sent for, and he began his ministrations by asking, 'Do you believe in god the father? Do you believe in god the son? And do you believe in god the holy ghost?'

The man looked at those around him and murmured, 'Here am I dying and he asks me riddles."'

Life is continuously in the hands of death. Don't waste time in words and riddles.

Buddha used to say, 'I see you in great danger, and you go on wasting your time in solving riddles which have nothing to do with reality.' He used to say, 'You are like a man who has been wounded by a poisonous arrow, and who is lying down there. The physician comes and wants to take the arrow out of his body, but the man is a great philosopher and he says, "Wait. First I have to come to a conclusion whether the arrow is real or illusory, whether the world is real or illusory, maya. First I have to come to a decision whether the arrow has been thrown at me by accident, or whether somebody has done it purposely. Why did god create the world? Is there somebody who has created the world?" The fatally wounded philosopher asks, "Wait! First convince me whether life is worth saving or not."'

Buddha used to tell this story again and again, and he used to say, 'When I see you, I see the same man in you.'

Your life is fleeting. The water of life is slipping through your fingers -- any moment and death may strike -- and you are trying to solve metaphysical puzzles? -- Who created the world? Whether anybody created it or not? Who is god? What is his form?

People go on constantly discussing, debating. It seems they are avoiding something through these discussions. They are avoiding existence. They are trying to remain occupied in something so that the reality of life and death is not encountered.

I have heard one story. It is tremendously beautiful. It happened in the middle ages in Rome.

"Back in the medieval times, the roman pope was persuaded by some of his more conservative advisors to endure no longer the presence of jews in the very heart and core of world christianity. The jews of Rome were therefore ordered evicted from their home by a certain date.

To the jews of Rome, this was a great tragedy, for they knew no refuge where they might not expect worse treatment than in Rome. They appealed to the pope for reconsideration, and the pope, a fair-minded man, suggested a sporting proposition. If the jews would appoint one of their own members to engage in a debate with him in pantomime, and if the jewish representative were to win the debate, the jews might remain.

The jewish leaders gathered in the synagogue that night and considered the proposition. It seemed the only way out, but none of their number wished to volunteer to debate. As the chief rabbi said, 'It is impossible to win a debate in which the pope will be both participant and a judge. And how can I face the possibility that the eviction of the jews will be a result of my specific failure?'

The synagogue janitor, who had been quietly sweeping the floor through all this, suddenly spoke up. 'I will debate,' he said.

They stared at him in astonishment. 'You, a chief janitor,' said the chief rabbi, 'debate with the pope!'

'Someone has to,' said the janitor, 'and none of you will.'

So in default of anyone else, the janitor was made the representative of the jewish community and was appointed to debate with the pope.

Then came the great day of the debate. In the square before St. Peters was the pope, surrounded by the college of cardinals in full panoply, with crowds of bishops and other church functionaries. Approaching was the jewish janitor, surrounded by a few leaders of the jewish community, in their sombre black garb and their long grey beards. Pope faced janitor -- and the debate began.

Gravely the pope raised a finger and swept it across the heavens. Without hesitation, the janitor pointed firmly toward the ground, and the pope looked surprised.

Even more gravely, the pope raised one finger again, keeping it firmly before the janitor's face. With the trace of a sneer, the janitor raised three fingers, holding them before the pope just as firmly, and a look of deep astonishment crossed the pope's face again.

Then the pope thrust his hand deep into his robes and produced an apple. The janitor thereupon opened a paper bag that was sticking out of his hip-pocket and took out a flat piece of matzo. At this the pope exclaimed in a loud voice, 'The jewish representative has won the debate. The jews may remain in Rome.'

The janitor backed off, the jewish leaders surrounded him, and all walked hastily out of the square. They were no sooner gone than the church leaders clustered about the pope. 'What happened, your holiness?' they demanded. 'We didn't follow the rapid give and take.'

The pope passed a shaking hand across his brow. 'The man facing me,' he said, 'was a master at the art of debate. Consider. I began the debate by sweeping my hand across the sky to indicate that god ruled all the universe. Without pausing an instant, that old jew pointed downward to indicate that nevertheless, the devil has been assigned a dominion of his own below.

'I then raised one finger to indicate there was but one god, assuming I would catch him in the error of his own theology. Yet he instantly raised three fingers to indicate that one god had three manifestations -- a clear acceptance of the doctrine of the trinity.

'Abandoning theology, I produced an apple to indicate that certain blind followers of so-called science were flying in the face of revealed truth by declaring that the earth was round as an apple. Instantly he produced a flat piece of unleavened bread to indicate that the earth, in accord with revelation, was nevertheless flat. So I granted him victory.'

By now the jews and the janitor had reached the ghetto. All surrounded the janitor, demanding, 'What happened?'

The janitor said indignantly, 'The whole thing was nonsense. Listen. First the pope waves his hand like he is saying the jews must get out of Rome. So I point downward to say the jews are going to stay right here. So he points his finger at me as if to say drop dead, but the jews are leaving. So I point three fingers at him to say drop dead three times, the jews are staying. So then I see he is taking out his lunch, so I take out mine."'

The whole metaphysical debate goes on like this. Impotent gestures, meaningless gestures -- you can give any meaning to them. Empty words -- you can make them appear in any way you like. It is your game.

The reality does not bother about your words -- what humanity is thinking, what human mind decides is truth. The truth is not worried about it. It is not a question of your deciding what truth is. You are befooling nobody except yourself. Your truth is your truth; it is not the truth.

Whatsoever mind comes to conclude is mind's conclusion. It shows something about the mind; it shows nothing about the reality. Truth is not a conviction of the mind. Truth is a transformation of being.

Here I am not giving you any metaphysics. People come to me and they ask, 'What is your doctrine?' There is no doctrine here. All doctrines are dangerous, because they become dogmas. And all doctrines are dangerous because they become occupations -- so much so that the whole human energy is wasted in them. Drop all doctrines, dogmas, beliefs, 'isms' Be clean of them -- young, fresh. Then you will be intelligent.

Intelligence is not intellect. Intellect is accumulated knowledge. Intelligence is your freshness of being, the virginity of your being, the innocence of your being.

An intelligent person is one who faces life without words; who comes to life naked of all beliefs; who comes to life without any scriptures; who looks at life direct and immediate, with no clouds in his mind. He has nothing to prove. He has not decided anything beforehand. He has no fixed ideas.

And then he is never frustrated. He simply is open, vulnerable, and the reality penetrates him from every nook and corner, from every cell of his being. He becomes like a sponge: he is soaked with reality.

Be a fresh sponge -- totally empty -- so that you can soak the whole of the reality that there is. This is what meditation is all about.

Meditation means dropping the mind, dropping metaphysics, dropping doctrines about reality so that reality itself can penetrate you and enter you.

Once you become addicted with a doctrine, then it is intellect that functions, not intelligence. An intelligent person is always free; intellect is never free. Intellect always tries to be consistent with the past. Intelligence always tries to respond with the present. An intellectual will be consistent. An intelligent person will be very paradoxical. An intellectual will be logical, in fact too logical -- hair-splitting, logic-chopping. An intelligent man is not logical; he is simply real -- and reality is paradoxical. He has no fixed ideas to force on reality. He has no fixed modes to force on reality. He is flexible, fluid, like water. He is ready to move with the reality. Whatsoever shape the reality gives to him, he is available. He never says no.

Remember this. An intellectual always remains with the no. An intelligent person lives with the yes. He says yes to reality, whatsoever it is. He has no fight. He has nothing to grind against reality. He is part of it.

To be intelligent is totally different from being intellectual. To be intellectual is just trying, pretending, that you are intelligent. It is a false substitute. And once you become intellectual, you will become egoistic. Once you become egoistic, you are closed.

If you are an intellectual and trying to solve reality, and carrying some doctrines within you according to which you hope that you will be able to find the key and open the lock of reality, that key will be the very barrier -- because the lock has never been locked. The doors are open.

You must have heard about Houdini, the magician, who used to get out of all sorts of locks, chains, prison-cells, within minutes -- at the most, three minutes. But once, only once in his life, was he deceived.

In Italy he was exhibiting his talents, and he could not get out for one hour. People who had come to watch became worried -- it had never been so. Within three minutes, sometimes even within seconds, he always was out. What had happened? And when he came out after one hour, he was perspiring, completely tired. He looked weird.

They asked, 'What happened?'

He said, 'The people befooled me. They had not locked the door. The door was open, and I was trying to find the key. There was no lock, just a hole, and in that hole I was trying to open the lock, the non-existential lock.'

Of course, if there is no lock you cannot open it. He became more and more worried, and he could not imagine that they may have played a trick and the door was not locked. It was a simple hole; there was no lock in it, so no key would fit.

Jesus says, 'Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you.'

The basic meaning is, 'Knock, and you will find the doors are always open. They have always remained open.'

Intellect tries to create keys -- because of your keys, you go on missing. And once you have a key... of course, it looks like a key -- it is not a key because it never fits, and it cannot fit because there is no lock, but it looks like a key... once you have a key, you go on defending it. It becomes a blanket, a rag-doll.

Hindus go on defending their religion. They are not so worried about using it; they go on defending it. Mohammedans go on defending their religion. Christians go on producing rubbish literature. I have never come across more rubbishy literature than christian literature -- just simple rot. But they go on producing -- in defence. They have to argue. They have never used what they are saying, the key has never been helpful to themselves, but they are defending.

And people find outlandish ways to defend their keys and their doctrines. Their whole energy becomes blocked in a futile effort. Have you watched? If you don't have any doctrine, you can enjoy; it is very funny when people start rationalizing and defending their doctrines.

Many times it happens... they come to me. A christian missionary came a few years ago and he started talking about his theology. For half an hour I listened to him, and then I asked him, 'Just one thing I want to ask -- has it helped you? Because you look almost crazy.' You must have come across jehovah's witnesses and other crazy people.... But he wouldn't listen; as-if he was not there. He went on and on.

Again, after one hour had passed, I said, 'Just wait a minute. What are you talking about? Has it helped you?'

He confessed that it had not helped him, but he hoped it would help. I told him, 'Something has helped me -- are you ready to listen to it?'

He said, 'I will come some other time.' He never came.

People cling to their beliefs desperately. They are not convincing others; in fact, in convincing others, they are convincing themselves. Alone, left to themselves, they become afraid. 'Who knows whether what I am believing is true or not?' When they convince others, and somebody says, 'Yes, it is right,' they become confident. Now they know that they must have something true; otherwise how are other people impressed?

Once it happened:

"Two young disciples were disputing the comparative piety of their respective rabbinical teachers.

'My rabbi,' said the first, 'is so holy that he receives the special attention of the good lord. One time last spring when it was raining all over the city, there was a little circle around my rabbi's head where no rain fell and where, instead, beams of sunlight shone down to illuminate him.'

'Just the same,' said the second, 'my rabbi is much more pious.'

'How can you say that?' said the first in shocked tones. 'Your rabbi lacks the very basic elements of piety. My rabbi is incomparable. Why, on last Yom Kippur -- the holiest day of the year, when fasting is obligatory -- I saw your rabbi eating a chicken sandwich.'

'Exactly,' said the second in triumph. 'While all over the city it was Yom Kippur, in a little circle around my rabbi's head, it was the day after Yom Kippur."'

People go to absurd lengths to defend themselves. They go on believing in something, because if that belief is broken, they will be falling into a bottomless abyss.

But that bottomless abyss is real. Once you accept it, all fear disappears. Once you accept that life is a mystery and cannot be solved, once you accept that life basically is unknowable, all fear disappears, and all efforts to know, and all efforts to formulate doctrines, stop.

Suddenly you are again part of reality; the division is no more there. The seeker and the sought are one. The thinker and the thought are one. The observer and the observed are one. The seer and the seen are one. Suddenly the division is no more there. The division is created by your doctrines.

This zen story is tremendously beautiful.

SATO-KAISEKI WAS VERY MUCH DISTURBED...

Disturbed, because whatsoever belief he was clinging to was being shattered by scientific discoveries. He was very much disturbed

... BY THE IMPLICATIONS OF COPERNICUS' HELIOCENTRIC THEORY.

All the religions of the world were disturbed by Copernicus. He created one of the greatest revolutions in human consciousness. Before him, all religions believed that the earth was the center of existence. Not that they knew -- it was part of human ego to believe that the earth is the center of the whole universe. It was part of an ego-trip.

If the earth is the center of the whole universe, then man is the center of all life. How can it be otherwise? When man lives on earth, how can the center be anywhere else? And when Copernicus said that the earth is not the center; in fact, the earth is a very very distant, mediocre place, not at all important, very insignificant; the universe is vast and the earth is not the center...

... THIS, OF COURSE, WAS INCONSISTENT WITH THE OLD BUDDHIST COSMOLOGY IN WHICH MOUNT SUMERU OCCUPIES THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE.

Mount Sumeru, in the buddhist cosmology, is the center of the whole universe. Of course, buddhists were also disturbed. Christians were very disturbed. They punished Copernicus, they punished Galileo. They tried hard to shut up these new discoveries completely, so that their old idea of earth being the center, could continue; so that their idea of man being the center of life could continue. But it is difficult. Whenever a truth is discovered, it is impossible to force it back into darkness.

HE REASONED THAT IF THE BUDDHIST VIEW OF THE COSMOS WERE PROUD FALSE, THE TRIPLE WORLD, AND THE TWENTY-FIVE FORMS OF EXISTENCE WOULD BE REDUCED TO NONSENSE...

Religious people are always afraid. If even one doctrine is proved false then their whole structure is toppled. Because if one thing can be wrong then why not others?

If Jesus says that the earth is flat, and later on we find that it is not flat, it is round, circular, it is a globe, then christians become afraid. If the son of god was so ignorant that he did not know that the earth is round, then what about other things? He may be wrong for the other things also. And the very claim that he is the son of god seems to be disproved. At least the son of god must know.

If one doctrine goes wrong, if one loophole is found, then the whole structure starts falling down. So religious people go on insisting for trivia also. I came across a man, a jain monk, who is trying to prove that the americans and the russians have not reached the moon -- because it is against jain cosmology.

In jain cosmology, the moon is the abode of devas, angels. If these people have reached there and have found that there is nobody, no devas, then the whole jain cosmology falls down. Then what to say about Mahavir and his knowledge, his absolute knowledge? His omniscience is shattered.

Jains claim that Mahavir knows everything of the past, of the present, of the future. There is nothing hidden from him; his knowledge is omniscient, absolute. He is infallible. So what to do now? If people have reached the moon -- as they have reached -- then the whole jain philosophy suddenly is shattered.

So this jain monk is trying to prove that they have not reached. He is trying to prove that they have been deceiving the whole world; that on television, people are seeing nothing but studio performances; that nobody has reached there.

The same thing happened when Copernicus proved that the earth is no more the center; the sun is the center. Sumeru is the buddhist concept. Sumeru means there is a mountain, immovable, the highest in existence, which is at the center of the world. Now what will happen to Sumeru?

This Sato-Kaiseki was very much disturbed. If one concept is proved wrong then what will happen to other concepts?

... THE TWENTY-FIVE FORMS OF EXISTENCE WOULD BE REDUCED TO NONSENSE -- RESULTING IN THE NEGATION OF BUDDHISM ITSELF. SO HE IMMEDIATELY SET ABOUT WRITING A BOOK IN DEFENCE OF THE MOUNT SUMERU POSITION, SPARING HIMSELF NO EFFORT.

WHEN HE HAD FINISHED THE WORK HE TOOK IT AT ONCE TO MASTER EKIDO AND PRESENTED IT TRIUMPHANTLY.

But zen masters are rare people. If there had been even one pope like a zen master, the whole conflict between science and religion would have been avoided. It still continues because christian popes go on being stupid. They go on talking nonsense. Whatsoever new is revealed, they go on avoiding it. They lag behind humanity. The gap between them and humanity is almost of two thousand years. They still live in the time of Jesus. Had there been even one pope like master Ekido, things would have been totally different.

This disciple was very happy that he had proved. Of course, he had proved only logically -- hair-splitting. He could not prove in any other way. The proof could not be experimental; it could only be logical.

The master took the book in his hand.

AFTER LEAFING THROUGH THE FIRST FEW PAGES THE MASTER THRUST IT BACK, SHAKING HIS HEAD AND SAYING 'HOW STUPID! DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT THE AIM OF BUDDHISM IS TO SHATTER THE TRIPLE WORLD AND THE TWENTY-FIVE FORMS OF EXISTENCE? WHY STICK TO SUCH UTTERLY WORTHLESS THINGS AND TREASURE MOUNT SUMERU? BLOCKHEAD!'

DUMBFOUNDED, KAISEKI SHOVED THE BOOK UNDER HIS ARM AND QUICKLY WENT HOME.

This is the taste of an enlightened being... the flavour.

One has to get rid of all doctrines, scriptures, theories, because basically one has to get rid of one's own ego. One has to get rid of all religions to be really religious. One has to get rid of all theories to come face to face with truth.

Zen monks are rare in the whole history of religion. They have burned their own scriptures. They have burned buddha statues because the night was cold and there was no other wood available in the temple. Rare people.... Worshipping Buddha, you cannot find more loving, trusting people. They worship Buddha, but if the time comes and it is winter and the night is very cold, they can burn Buddha just to keep themselves warm, with not a slight bit of guilt. In the morning they will be again worshipping Buddha.

Very difficult to understand, but this is how enlightenment is.

If you have become aware, then you don't cling to foolish things. If you have become aware, then awareness is the only thing of worth; then everything else is worthless.

The master said, 'Who bothers about Sumeru? All nonsense. Who bothers about the metaphysics, the cosmology, the philosophy? All nonsense. Good! Be happy that Copernicus has toppled it down. He has done a beautiful thing. Bless him.'

Because basically the whole effort is how to come out of the mind. Whenever you cling to a dogma, you are clinging to your mind. Whenever you cling to a doctrine, you are clinging to words.

Right he is when he says:

'HOW STUPID! DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT THE AIM OF BUDDHISM IS TO SHATTER THE TRIPLE WORLD AND THE TWENTY-FIVE FORMS OF EXISTENCE? WHY STICK TO SUCH UTTERLY WORTHLESS THINGS AND TREASURE MOUNT SUMERU? BLOCKHEAD!'

When Buddha was dying, Ananda started crying and weeping. He had lived forty years with him, like a shadow, and he said, 'I could not attain, and now you are leaving. You were with me twenty-four hours a day for forty years and then too I missed. Now there is no hope. When you are not here, for lives and lives I will be in darkness, wandering here and there. And now there seems to be no possibility for me. All doors are closed. I have not yet attained.'

Buddha smiled and said, 'Maybe when I am gone, you will be capable of attaining it. As I see it, I have become a hindrance. You cling too much to me. So remember one thing: when I am gone, let me be gone completely. You don't cling. You drop me completely -- and be a light unto yourself.'

And it is said that the next day Ananda became enlightened. Buddha dead, now nothing to cling to -- the last barrier dropped....

Zen masters say, 'If you meet Buddha on the way, kill him immediately.' Because he is so beautiful, so lovely, you may start being attached to him. 'Kill him immediately'

Zen masters say, 'If you by chance utter the name of Buddha, clean, rinse your mouth well, immediately!'

What do they mean? And they go on worshipping, and they go on putting flowers at Buddha's feet, and they go on bowing down, and they go on surrendering to him. They go on singing, 'Buddham sarnam gachhami: I seek refuge in your feet, my lord.' They go on saying it. It looks very paradoxical, but if you can see the point, it is simple.

One respects an enlightened person because he has shown the way. One feels grateful because he has shown the way in darkness, he has become a light in darkness -- but one never clings to him. Because if you cling, then the same person who was going to become a door has become a wall. You missed.

A disciple was leaving his master's house one dark night. He was afraid. The master said, 'Wait, don't be afraid. I will give you a lamp.'

He gave him a lamp. The disciple was very happy; he was more confident. When he was going down the steps of the master's house, the master called him back and blew out the lamp. The disciple said, 'What? What have you done? The night is very dark.'

The master said, 'Buddhas can only show the way, but you have to travel alone -- and with your own light. Be a light unto yourself.'

And don't be worried about futile things -- god, nirvana, moksha, absolute truth, who created the world, the heaven and the hell -- all theories and theories and theories. All words.

Beware of words. Put aside all words so you can be immediately in front of reality.

Reality is herenow. You are missing it because of your metaphysical ideas.

In your being, there are two possibilities: one is intellect, another is intelligence. Intellect is male, intelligence is female. Intellect is aggressive, intelligence is passive. Intellect is violent, intelligence is non-violent. Intellect tries to penetrate the reality forcibly -- that's what science is doing. It is a rape on reality; it is ugly. Intelligence simply opens the door and waits for the light to come. It is receptive like a woman. It is like a womb -- just receptive, passive.

Allow your intelligence to rule you. Don't allow your intellect to overpower you.

Have you watched, that whenever you fall in love, the woman starts unknowingly overpowering you? You may be a great man in the world, but with your beloved, your ego simply disappears. Even a very delicate and fragile woman will overpower the strongest man in the world.

It happened once:

"An eccentric king sent a henchman around the countryside. He was to interview the householders, and to every man who was boss in his house he was to give a horse. To every man who was henpecked he would give a chicken.

Everywhere the henchman went, he handed out chickens, with never an occasion to give anyone a horse. At last though, he arrived at the house of a burly farmer with a bristly, unshaven face, a deep bass voice, and muscles like an ox. In the background was his thin and wizened wife.

The henchman said, 'Are you boss in your family, sir?'

The farmer leaned his head back and bellowed with laughter, 'You bet, little man!' he said. 'What I say around here, goes.' And he opened and closed his fists, the size of hams.

The henchman was convinced. 'You get a horse,' he said. 'Do you want a brown horse or a grey horse?'

The farmer leaned his head back and shouted, 'Tilda, do we get a brown horse or a grey horse?'

And the henchman said, 'You get a chicken.'

It happens according to a certain eternal law. The feminine is more powerful. But it is very paradoxical: the feminine looks very powerless -- therein is the power. In the very powerlessness is the power. The feminine looks fragile -- therein precisely is the power and the strength.

Everybody has both inside them. The man has a woman inside him and a man, and the woman has a woman inside her and a man. Now it depends on you. This is how the focus has to be changed. Intellect is male; intelligence is female. Mind is male; meditation is female, receptive, passive.

If you go on clinging to the intellect you will miss, because reality opens its door only to those who are passive -- passive, alert... but absolutely passive, not doing anything. Change the focus from intellect to intelligence. Change the focus from thoughts to feelings.

Truth can never be known; it can only be felt. You cannot go to truth; you can only be available for it to come to you. Nobody ever reaches god; whenever you are ready, god reaches you.

If you are trying to work it out through the intellect, you will become a metaphysician, a philosopher, a systematizer, a logician -- but you will miss. You will miss absolutely. Drop all logic, all systematizing, all hair-splitting. Drop all aggressiveness. The active has to be dropped. Become passive.