Chapter 10 Chapter Nine Duke Huan and the Wheel Maker

Once, on a lonely country road, a traveler found something wrong with his engine.He stopped the car, opened the hood and looked inside, when suddenly he heard a voice: "If you ask me, I can tell you what the problem is." Startled, he looked around because he thought no one else was around .No, no one, just a horse, standing on a nearby farm.The man was terrified and ran forward quickly! Twenty minutes later, he came to a gas station, and when he got his breath, he told the man, the owner, what had happened: "There was no one there, only a horse, and I heard a man's voice Said that if I asked him, he would tell me what the problem was." The owner said, "Is this a black horse with a very hollow back and bow legs?" The man said, "Yes, that's the one." The owner Say, "Don't pay attention to him, he's just an old philosopher who died a long time ago and still hangs around there. Just because of his old habits, he keeps getting people to ask him questions. He doesn't know anything about engine problems." No idea. But he's not a horse, he's just using that poor old horse as a medium. So ignore him."

But this is what happens in the life path of all people.The ghosts of the old days are haunting, and they know all the answers.You just have to ask -- and they'll give you all the answers if you ask.But life is constantly changing, and they don't know anything about engines.Life is constantly changing.You can't find answers in the past.Because nothing is the same now.You cannot find the answer in the past, because the answer is not a thing, it always dies with the person who found it.But ghosts are haunting, your Vedas, Korans, Bibles, Gitas, they are ghosts.They are not the reality of today, they are long dead, but they are evocative.

① "Veda": Veda, the transliteration of Sanskrit Veda. The Vedas are the oldest scriptures of Brahmanism and Hinduism. ——Editor's note. So first try to understand why the dead things are so attractive, why the dead past is so attractive to the living today, why the dead things keep fooling you.why are you carrying themwhy do you obey them?You are alive, you are alive.Why do you look to the past, to the sages and prophets? First - the earlier a person dies, the stronger the tradition.It is time that sanctifies everything.If Buddha was alive you could hardly tolerate him.At most, if you are very nice to him, you will obey him.But you wouldn't believe he was a saint.You would not believe that this man knew the ultimate, because he looked just like you: a flesh and blood man, young or old, sick or healthy, heading for death just like you.Hungry, he needs food, sleep, he needs a bed, sick, he must rest - just like you.How can you believe that he understands the ultimate, something without death?Difficult, almost impossible.

Even if you try, it will never happen, even if you force yourself, deep down there is still doubt.But now, 25 centuries later, Buddha is no longer a man of flesh and blood.He was never sick, he was never hungry, he never needed food, he never needed medicine.Now he will never die, he is immortal.Time sanctifies everything, and gradually you forget that he is of the same kind as you.The dying image becomes golden, it rises higher and higher, it disappears completely somewhere in heaven, and all you have is a glimpse.Then you will believe it. So the past keeps haunting you, and if the Buddha comes back, you will reject him.That's why Jesus is worshiped today, but he was crucified while he was alive, alive, you crucified him, dead, you worship him, why does death make him so meaningful, so important?Death destroys the physical body and the connection with you is severed.Then you have a mental image: bloodless, boneless, supernatural.Now you can imagine.Now it's up to you to give him all the qualities—you create them.

It is difficult to construct a living man, because reality is there, and he will destroy all your constructions.He will not be ready to be the prisoner you have made.What can he do when he dies?What can Jesus do?What can Buddha do?Helplessly, they have to suffer no matter what you do. That's why more imagination is possible with a dead master -- now you can give it importance, superiority and other worldly things.But for a living person it is impossible unless you have a heart of total trust, total trust; and for those who have a heart of total trust, Buddha is never a living or dead body.He is never the body.Because they penetrate deeply, Buddhas are transparent.He may be in a body but he is not a body, he may live among you but he is not of your kind - he is from somewhere on high, that is the Son of God - the meaning of Christ.That is the meaning of avatar, the coming of the gods.That's what a prophet means - Buddha.He comes from the spirit world, but can only be seen through trusting eyes, mind cannot see him, but mind can create when he dies.

So first of all, the longer the time, the bigger the gap, the more time you have between Buddhas, Jesuses, saints, the more freedom your imagination has.You can build, you can create dreams around them.They become more of a myth than a reality, and then a whole myth develops around them.Then you can worship, then you can listen to them. But the problem is when Buddha was alive he was able to help you.You can absorb the spirit of Buddha while he was alive.The communication and transmission of certain things was only possible when the Buddha was alive.As he died, this became less and less likely.Why?For that which is given is not given through words.If it can be given through words, then there are already scriptures, there are already words of the Buddha.But it cannot be given through words.Words are just an excuse. "The Buddha said to you" is just an excuse to form a contact on the interface of the mind.If you are receptive, something is constantly happening; just between the words, between the lines of the scriptures, the Buddha is approaching you -- that is a living experience.

It is not a theory that he has to convey, but himself.He doesn't have to convey a hypothesis, a philosophy, but a lived experience, which is more of a skill than a philosophy.Even if you know how to swim you can't teach someone just with words.what would you sayNo matter what you say, you will feel that it is not enough.The only way is to take your student to the river, show him how you swim first - give him confidence, give him courage - and tell him, come on.If he trusts you, he will come with you.Then gradually put him through that experience. Only experience can teach.Spiritual things are like swimming, you can't say anything about it.You can describe it, but description is dead.And it is a lived experience that something happens when the person who knows the craft is there.He can't tell you, but you can learn.This is the mystery: he cannot teach you, but you can learn if you are receptive.

So remember, it depends more on the disciple and his receptivity than on the master.He exists, he is present.Now you have to receive and imbibe; you have to receive and contain; you have to be receptive and let him penetrate you.If you are afraid, the whole existence cringes, you are shut down.When you are closed, the master can keep knocking on your door, but there will be no response.The more he knocks, the more you cringe and become scared.So, he didn't even knock on the door anymore, because that was also an aggression.He will just wait by the door.When you are ready to open the door, he can give it to you, he can pass it on to you immediately, but the student has to be prepared.

This possibility exists only with the living Master.You cannot learn anything from a dead master. The word is with you, the Bible is with you, you can be a great scholar, a philosopher, you can think and weave many theories around it, you can create your own theories - but Jesus is not there, you One must live with Jesus, His presence is the most important thing. The second thing to remember is that ideas always love theory, words and philosophy.It can deal with them, a game the mind likes very much because there is nothing to lose.Instead, thoughts become stronger through them.The more you know, the more information you gather, the more your mind feels, "I am a person."

The problem with a living master is this: you have to give up, your ego has to be dispelled.Living with a master is actually a death experience, you have to die.Nothing happens unless you die.Only through your death does rebirth come.When you are no longer there, suddenly the divinity comes.So to the mind, a living master is an experience of death—the rebirth of the soul, however, is a death of the ego.You are not afraid to be with a dead master.The mind is constantly playing games with sages and prophets, and it's up to you.In any theory there is no meaning at all, you have to put meaning in, it is a kind of game.You think you are reading the Gita, the text of Krishna.But you are wrong.The words are there, but who will give them meaning?You will give meaning.

Therefore, every scripture is just a mirror: you will see your own face in it.You can read whatever you like, but because the mind is very cunning, it will not listen to anything that is against it.It will play out in its own way, Krishna will not be there and say, "No, that's not what I meant." There was a time when Sigmund Freud was alive, but very old, and in his last years he gathered all his disciples—he had a huge following all over the world.He founded a very important school of psychoanalysis, and he is very respected. Twenty of his closest disciples are having lunch with him.They start discussing what Freud meant about something, and they completely forget about Freud.They are more and more immersed in the discussion, contradicting each other, arguing with each other.One theory - 20 interpretations.The master is alive, he is sitting there, but they have completely forgotten about him!So he knocked on the table and said, "Please stop! I'm alive, and you can ask me what I mean. Listening to you, I already sense what you're going to do when I die. I'm alive, but no one asks me." , what do I mean. You already have 20 meanings! When I die, you will have 200, 2000, 200 meanings, and then there will be no possibility to ask me what I mean." This is how creeds and denominations arise. Jesus was a simple man, but look at Catholics, Protestants, hundreds of denominations of Christianity and its derivatives.Jesus was a simple man, the son of a carpenter, who never used theological jargon.He's not a man of words, he's a man of experience.He just told little stories, anecdotes, fables.He is talking to the uneducated, and his meaning is succinct.But look... Protestants, Catholics, their theologians, they made so much out of him - a mountain!They went on discussing and arguing about simple matters, and they were so engrossed in it that Jesus was completely forgotten. How can you remember a dead Jesus when the living Floyd is forgotten?Ask the Hindus, they already have 1000 interpretations of the Gita Sutra.Every year, interpretations keep being added, new interpretations, no one agrees with the other.Shankara said that the moral is to give up, and the moral of the "Gitta Sutra" is to give up and not act.Lokmanya Tilek says that the moral is action - just the opposite.Raman Naja says the moral is devotion, not action, not renunciation, so you go on: 1000 interpretations and no one agrees with the other.There will be 1001 interpretations when you read the Gita Sutra because it will be yours.You will bring your mind into it, mind strengthened by that knowledge and belief. Thoughts are not in any danger except in the presence of a living master.It was on the brink of death then.You avoid Krishna, you take the Gita in your mind.You avoid Jesus, you always keep the Bible in your pocket. The Bible can be in your pocket, Jesus cannot. The Bible will be yours, but with Jesus you must belong to Jesus.That's the difference: you can have a Bible, you cannot have Jesus, you have to be his. Third, science can be written, no problem, because it is not a skill, it is theorizing, it is inference.It can be written, it is described, it is not a mystery.The whole basis of science is to demystify everything.It has principles, laws, and they can be written down; if you explain the laws, everything becomes clear.Religion is not like science, it is more like art - it is symbolic.First of all it is not realistic, it is symbolic. Once, a friend came to see Picasso.That friend is in the army, in the army.He looked at Picasso's studio and said, "What a mess! Everything is unreal, not even a single painting reflects reality." You can't find anything like a Picasso painting in reality.It doesn't exist, it's just Picasso's sense of reality. Science tries to find the objective, and art constantly tries to find the subjective in the objective.You look at a flower, and if you ask a scientist, he will describe the chemical composition of that flower.Of course they exist, but they are not flowers because they do not have the beauty of Jesus, they do not have that meaning.You have to ask the artist about beauty, but he won't talk about chemical structures, or whatever, and he'll give you a poem, which will be closer to reality than anything a scientist can give you, but it won't be objective. Picasso listened quietly, because this friend, was a soldier, and you can't expect a soldier to know much about subjectivity - he lived in the objective world, and then they talked about other things, when the soldier took a picture of his girlfriend Show Picasso, a small photo.Picasso laughed and said, "Is that girl so small? It would be very difficult to make love to such a small girl." The soldier said, "What are you talking about! It's just a picture." So Picasso said, "" A photograph is not objective, it is symbolic, it only represents, symbolizes and shows. It is not a depiction, it is not in exact proportion; it is only a symbol, a suggestion." Remember, religion is more like art than science.It is more subtle than art because art is objective and religion is subjective.Art has symbols to embody the objective world.An artist paints a rose, but a rose exists, a Van Gogh's rose or a Picasso's rose may not be quite as it looks in the garden, but it is still a rose.You can find similarities, you can find certain correspondences. But when Buddha talks about nirvana, it's not in the outer world, you don't have anything corresponding to it.When Jesus talks about the Kingdom of God, it doesn't exist objectively.Art is objective, its symbolism is difficult to understand, but you can still find something corresponding to it in the world.Religion symbolizes subjectivity, and you cannot find anything like it in the world.You cannot discover its meaning and importance unless you go into yourself.Then you will carry words, and words are not reality.Then you can repeat the word "God" but you don't know anything about God. It's like an art, even more like a craft. What is Buddha doing?He is a craftsman and he turns you into a god.Like a sculptor who goes on beating on the stone, cutting off this piece or that, throwing away everything that doesn't matter—by degrees the image is discovered.It was there, it was there before the artist started with his chisel and hammer, but so was the insignificant stuff.The insignificant is broken and discarded, and then the essence emerges and is discovered.So what was Buddha doing?You are a stone; he goes on working with his chisel and hammer, he will cut away what is insignificant, and then the essence comes in its full radiance.That's when the Magnificent was born and another world seeped into this world.He didn't bring anything new into the world, he just changed you, transformed you. You have carried another world within you, but mingled too much with this world.Detachment is needed, to separate the essential from the non-essential; to separate you from what you have; to separate the possessor from what you have, a dissociation of mind from body, center from circumference.It is like a craft, no painter will tell you how to paint, you have to live with the master.If you go to Picasso and say, "How do you paint? Tell me something, give me some guidelines." He won't give you any guidelines, because they don't know it.It's such a marvelous phenomenon, it's so unconscious that when Picasso painted he didn't notice any guidelines, rules, laws, instructions.He becomes his painting, he no longer exists, he is completely immersed in it.You must be with him.When he enters his painting, when the painter disappears and only the painting remains, when painting is no longer a conscious action, when the unconscious enters, you have to see the phenomenon and feel it, what it is.At that time, it was not Picasso's hand, it was the Tao of the unconscious, which entered naturally.Picasso's hands are tools, they work like mediums, there is some other energy there.Look at Picasso painting - he is no longer alone.He is no longer part of you; he becomes a creator, he is not an animal.That's why when painting is born, it brings something from another world. But that's nothing.When Buddha speaks he is not a spokesman.When Buddha moves he is not the one who walks.When Buddha puts his hand on your head he is not that hand.The Tao - you can call it God, whatever name you choose - entered.Now that hand is not Buddha's, it is a tool through which God is touching you, Buddha is not there at all, not standing between you and God.But this has to be experienced.It is impossible to learn anything from the dead Buddha.If you can't learn from the living one, how can you expect to learn from the dead one? It is a craft, the greatest craft, so delicate and subtle that nothing can be done consciously, you just have to approach and draw.This word must be remembered - draw.Buddha has to be absorbed, eaten.He becomes your blood and bones, he flows within you.His presence has to be absorbed, you have to carry it within yourself. This is the greatest feat in the world—to make a god out of a man—a man who was always destined to be an animal—to make him into a god, to change minds, to let go of himself, to let something ultimate come upon him.This is bringing the ocean into the drop, this is dropping the ocean into the drop, this is the highest, supreme skill.No scripture can carry it, they can only imply that you have to go up to the living Buddha to understand what it means.It is found only once in 1000 years, in 2000 years, there is a person like Buddha.And so was born the ritual of death, which people worship all the time without knowing what they are doing. Now try to understand those words of Zhuangzi.This is a beautiful fable. Huan Gong and the wheel maker. Duke Huan of Qi was studying in the hall, and the wheel maker Bian was making a wheel in the yard outside. Bian put down the clippers and chisels and came up to the hall, and said to Duke Huan, "May I ask, my lord, what kind of books are you reading?" Duke Huan said, "It's the words of the sages." Remember all your saints and prophets are always dead, because before that message reaches you, that person is gone.By the time you know there is Buddha, Buddha is dead.Your consciousness is such a lazy and gross thing, you are so inattentive to what is happening that when you know that the flower has bloomed, you rush into the garden and the flower has disappeared. It takes time for you to become aware of someone's presence - and it takes so much time!Sometimes centuries later you feel that Buddha was there, but there is nothing left to do.Be more alert and aware so you can catch your train on time.You always miss the train.You are not for the first time, you were when Gautama became Buddha, you are somewhere on the earth, it will not be otherwise, because nothing dies.You missed him.Someone must have told you, and you must have argued.You must have said, "We have heard many stories, these are just stories." You must have thought, how can others be enlightened when I am not enlightened?How can others be superior to me?Are you confident?You must say: "I am a rational man, I would not be so gullible. If in doubt, first I must satisfy my doubt..." It takes time, sometimes centuries, and even then the doubts are not answered.Remember, even with doubt, one has to jump.If you wait for the doubt to recede first, then your moment to jump will never come, because doubt is a self-creating process.One doubt creates another; another doubt creates another.The same happens with faith - one faith creates another faith, another faith ... and so a chain is created.You have a wavering in the beginning.No one can start with all their heart, because then there is no need.One has to start with doubts, but don't pay too much attention to doubts, pay more attention to trust.Then the energy moves to trust, and trust becomes a kind of chain.Gradually, the energy of doubt is absorbed by the energy of trust. Remember, one has to sow.If you wait, and say, "I will plant trust when there is no longer any doubt," then you will never plant the seed. You must have heard, someone may have told you that this Gautama is enlightened.You must be laughing, you must be saying, "No one is enlightened, these are just stories that people keep making up. I know this Gautama, I even know his father. I know his family, I won't believe it because I am a Skeptic, I'm a sane man. I don't move without thinking." Not only with Buddha - you existed when Jesus existed, you existed when Chuang Tzu existed.You have always been there, but you have missed out many times.Why?The reason is always the same - you cannot be trusted.You are constantly looking for reasons against jumping; there are endless possibilities to keep looking for reasons, again and again, and again and again.Because once you are satisfied, doubt it becomes a cancerous growth, it continues, it continues, it grows.The same happens with trust. So remember, this is not a question of "I will trust when I have no doubts", it is impossible, that moment will never come.You have to trust when in doubt.Behold the beauty of it, if you can trust in doubt - such is the human mind, fragile, weak, divided, you must trust in doubt.If you can trust when you have doubts, it means that you pay more attention to trust and less attention to doubts; you are indifferent to doubts, and your whole attention is turned to trust.Then comes the day when doubt disappears, because if you don't give attention, you don't give food -- attention is food.If you do not pay attention, doubt cannot continue in its chain.But you always look for reasons.The ego always says, "Don't give up, don't let go. What are you doing? You will be lost." It never occurs to you that you are lost. Where are you? You must have met that kind of person who is called a "driver".Some people just love to drive, they are "drivers".They'd go from Mumbai to Delhi, non-stop, and the first thing they said when they got to Delhi was, "We've only had 24 hours on the road." That's "drivers." Once a crazy car drove me somewhere.He was driving fast, driving at insane speeds on the highway.We had expected to reach the village in the afternoon, but it was already dark before we arrived.So I checked the map and told him he took a side road later."Don't bother with the map, it's ok. We're enjoying the ride," he said. He started driving again, not stopping to look at the map. Some people just go fast thinking they'll get somewhere if they go fast. It's not movement that takes you somewhere, it's direction.You don't get to the finish line just by running; you might run in circles.where did you getWhat have you lost?There is nothing, so why are you afraid?Afraid of having nothing to lose? People come to me and they say giving up is hard and I always look at them and just don't understand what they're joking about because they have nothing to give up, nothing to lose, nothing to give up.If you've gained something, there's something about giving it up.You gain nothing, you collect worthless garbage.What do you think this is?But you don't want to look at it, because if you look, you will be afraid, and then the earth starts shaking.You don't look at it, you just go on believing you have a lot and I have nothing.Because nothing I have is worth mentioning except enlightenment.There is no opulence other than a fully aware consciousness, an inner flame without death, there will be none. Bian put down his spine and chisel and came up to the hall, and said to Duke Huan: "May I ask, my lord, what kind of books are you reading?" Duke Huan said, "It is the words of sages." A man is a sage only when he has a long tradition.He becomes a saint only when many people worship him after many years have passed.Would Jesus be a prophet and saint if no one worshiped him?Count his followers: the more followers there are, the greater the prophet and saint. There is a sign in a candy store in New Delhi.If you go, you must visit this store.The sign reads "Eat here, a million flies can't go wrong!" That's how you feel, and a million people can't be wrong.When 10 million people follow, you feel that this is a sage.But these are flies! How many people follow Buddha?How many people follow Jesus?You count followers as if the master depends on the number of followers.Religion is not politics, following is not a problem.Even if no one follows Buddha, Buddha is Buddha.It would make no difference if the whole world followed, because people always follow for the wrong reasons.Do not seek followers.But that's how you feel: Who's the sage?How many people follow?You keep turning to wrong assertions. Duke Huan said, "It's the words of a sage." Bian asked, "Are you still alive?" That old man Bian must have been a wise man, a real wise man; for it is difficult to find a man who believes in living sages.How can a living person be a sage?It takes time, a long time -- only then does someone become a saint. Once I went to visit a Buddhist monastery—Buddha Temple, and the people there gathered together and asked me to say something about Buddhism, so I said something.A monk is a little uncomfortable.Finally he asked me "I have never read that story you told in any scripture, I have read all Buddha's words. No sage has quoted it, first time I heard it, where did you get it of?" So I told him, "I create the story, and if it's not in your scripture, you can add it. I am my own sage." How were scriptures created?If anyone wrote it before 1000 years, he is a sage.But if I join a story, well, no!but why?It's just a matter of time.Buddha died, and it was 500 years before the story was written—but not then.So, if stories can be written after 500 years, why not after 2500?The monk couldn't believe I was saying that.This Bian must be a very wise man; he said, "Is it still alive?" The sages are almost always dead, and I tell you, if you can trust a living sage, you will be transformed.Take the dead and they'll make you die too—that's how you get dull and dull.You become more alive with the living because whatever you do changes you.If you believe in the dead, you believe in death not life.If you believe in living people, you believe in life, not death. Duke Huan said, "I've been dead for a long time." Really, every religion tries to prove that their prophets are very, very old.Ask the Hindus - they say their Dharma Sanadam has no beginning.They are very cunning, they say it has no beginning, then you cannot prove that your religion is older than theirs.They say it all, it has no beginning.They say the Vedas are the oldest and they think that if you can prove that the Vedas are the oldest then they are more authoritative. Ideas generally think that the older a thing is, the better, as if truth is a kind of wine, and all explanations are just putting old wine in a new bottle.Truth is not wine, truth is not like wine at all, it is just the opposite, the newer it is, the fresher it is, the younger it is, the deeper it is.Survival is more important; the dead are lifeless, dust from the past and nothing else. But the Hindus prove that their Vedas are very, very old and they keep pushing the Vedas back in time.If someone proves that they are not that old, they will be very angry, they think you are hostile to religion, you are crazy.Ask the Jains: They testify that their Jain prophets are older than the Vedas.They have a saying, because the first prophet of Jainism is mentioned in the Vedas, so this is a clear proof. If the original Jain seer is mentioned with great respect in the Vedas, it means that he died long ago, otherwise how can you show such respect to a living person?Not just mentioned, but mentioned with great respect, like a god, which means he must have been dead for at least 5000 years.Only then a man becomes a god.So the Jains say their religion is the oldest -- that's what all religions try to do.Why try so hard to prove that you are the oldest?Because the mind believes in death, the mind believes in the past.Thought is the past. Then you think that if your prophets are ancient, your ideas will also be great, because the greater the gap in time, the longer the accumulation of traditions, the activity of ideas stretches.Thoughts need time to pass, and thoughts are just the accumulation of the past, so if your past is bigger, the thoughts you have will be bigger, and if your past is not so big, the thoughts you have will be smaller.That's why all the old traditions, nations and races, always see America as childish, because they have no past - only 300 years.Is this a kind of past? 300 years?It's nothing.Not only that, but if you follow a master who says his age is 500, then he will gather more followers. I heard a rumor about a lama in Tibet who was 1000 years old.An Englishman visited him.That's why he came from London - because this lama is 1,000 years old.This is rare.He visited the Lama, and he couldn't believe it, the man didn't look over 50 years old.So he asked.He asked the lama's disciples: "Is it true that your master is 1,000 years old?" The disciples said, "I can't say for sure, because I have only been with him for 300 years." But here's the thing: the older a thing is, the more authoritative it is.Even if someone says that his master is 150 years old, suddenly you feel that there is something very valuable here.Just get old and you think something worthwhile has happened.You can be 150 and just be a 150-year-old fool -- because age does not bring wisdom, it has nothing to do with it.On the contrary, children are more intelligent; they must be.God is never wrong, he always kills old people and replaces them with children.That means he trusts children far more than he trusts old people, and old people means—abandon, throw them away, now they're useless.God believes in the new and man believes in the old, God always believes in the new leaves, that's why the old leaves fall.他用新的，用鲜活的，用年轻的替代了它。 神是永远年轻的、新鲜的，宗教也是如此。但是圣贤们……所以你不能相信神的圣贤。如果看着神性在各处创造，你将会觉得他看上去有些疯狂。因为当一个人变得聪明时，他就收回他。你活了90岁，度过你的一生，走过了所有的季节，懂得很多，积累了经验，当你变得聪明的时候，他召唤你：来吧，走出生活。他用一个小孩儿替代你。你被一个一无所知的小孩儿所取代。看来比起知识，他更爱天真，比起老的枯叶，他更爱新鲜的叶子。应该这样，因为生命必须是年轻的，如果他是永恒的生命，他必须水远年轻。 那就是为什么印度教徒从来不把克利希纳和拉姆描述成老的，那是象征性的，他们永远年轻。你见过拉姆看上去很老的像片，或者克利希纳弯着腰，手里拄着一根拐棍的像片吗？他活了80年，他老了，但印度教徒只是放弃了把他描绘成老人的念头，因为如果你看着神，他是永远年轻的。所以这只是为了表明神永远年轻，宗教永远新鲜，就像一个天真无邪的婴儿，就像早晨的露珠，就像夜晚的第一颗星星。但是这样的话，神就不能是圣贤，因为圣贤意味着过去的重量；没有过去的重量，圣贤是不能产生的。 扁问："还在不在世上？"桓公说："死了很长时间了。""那么"，造轮子的人说，"你所读的只是他们留下的糟粕啊。" 每当你过分地沉溺于过去你就是沉溺于糟粕、坟墓，你是一个掘坟人。你生活在墓地里，你不再是生命的活生生的现象的一部分。 桓公答道："你知道些什么？你只是个造轮子的人。你最好给我作一个合理的解释，不然你必死无疑。" 桓公不相信自己的耳朵，区区一个普通的造轮子的人却来教他智慧的东西。善于学习的人善于从每个地方学习。这个人准备向死去的圣贤学习而不是向一个活着的造轮子的人学习。我告诉你，一个活着的造轮人比一个死去的国王更好，因为他活着。没有人将会崇拜他，但神仍然信任他；那就是为什么他活着。 桓公非常生气，他说："你最好给我作一个合理的解释，不然你必死无疑。" 造轮子的人说："我是根据我的观察来看这些事的。我做轮子的时候，做宽了它们就松散开来，做紧了它们又安不进去。但如果我既不太松也不太紧，它们就恰如其分，做出的东西正是我要的那个样子。"你无法把这个用话说出来，你只需知道它是怎么回事。 " 造轮子的人是在说："我不知道圣人与先知。让我们从我的角度来看看。是的，我只是个造轮子的人，但我了解我的技艺，我从中学到了一些东西。那就是：这是一种技艺，如此微妙和精细以至它无法用言词来表达。" 如果你走极端的话，车轮永远不会像它该有的样子被做出来。你必须保持中庸。你怎么能诉诸于言词？问问一个走钢丝的人，他怎么能诉诸于文字？他是怎么在一个峡谷的两个山峰间架起的绳索上行走，如果他摔下去，他就永远摔下去了，他会死的。他是怎么在绳索上行走的？他能够诉诸于言词？他会说："如果我太偏右了，我必须立刻平衡向左偏去。如果我太偏左了，我又必须向右偏去，向相反的方向偏去，来平衡。" 这可以写下来，但只是读读它，不要拉开绳索也走一次；你将永远回不来了。因为这不是智力上理解的问题，这是通过你的整个存在感受的问题——偏多少？没有任何固定的方案，每个人都是不同的，它将取决于人，取决于重量、高度、情形、风向。这将取决于内在意念。你必须去感受它，你无法有一种固定的方案并遵从它。你必须通过一个师父去学，你不能到大学里去学它。 在大学里，你可以学哲学，你可以学数学，你可以学科学——一切，但你无法学一种技艺。一种技艺只能通过一个懂行的师父学，只是通过观察他，你开始感觉他。你对他如此信任，如果他向右偏，你内心的存在也向右偏。如果他向左偏，你的内心存在感觉到它，你也向左偏，你成为他的影子，渐渐地你开始了。 造轮子的人说："我是根据我的观察来看这些事的。我做轮子的时候，做宽了它们就松散开来，做紧了它们又安不进去。但如果我既不太松也不太紧，它们就恰如其分，做出的东西正是我要的那个样子。 你无法把这个用话说出来，你只需知道它是怎么回事。我甚至无法把怎么做的技巧准确地告诉我的儿子，我儿子也无法从我这里学到它。所以我在这里，70岁了，还在做轮子！ " What is he saying?他在说一个至关重要的真理：有些东西只能通过你的全部去学习；仅有智力不会有帮助。他能够制定一个方案，但那时你将错失，因为在每一个变化的情形中你将只有一个死的方案，它不会有帮助。在每一种变化的情形中，反应是需要的。那意味着只有意识能帮你，不是知识。你必须在你的内心怀着一种光芒，以便在每一个情形中你能够感觉此时此地的情形。你不必在方案中固定情形；甚至，相反，你必须在一种新的情形中随时发现方案。 生命在继续前行，它从不重复它自己，即使它看起来在重复，它从不重复它自己，它不能。如果你觉得生命在重复，这只是因为你不能感觉到新东西，你是那么麻木。不然的话它从不重复。你在今天早晨看见的一朵云将永远不会再次出现在空中——它不能。今天早晨升起的太阳将永远不会再次升起，因为明天早晨整个宇宙将全然不同。这是如此庞大的事物，一切都在变化。 一切都在不断地变化。没有什么是永远陈旧的，除了人的意念。那是唯一陈旧的东西——世界上唯一的博物馆，化石的聚集，唯一的墓地。否则一切都是新的了。只要看看！放下人类的意念！你在这个世界上能找到任何旧东西吗？一切都在改变，甚至喜马拉雅山。它们不断地变化；据说它们在升高，每年一英尺。 一切不断地变化着：海洋变化，地球变化，甚至大陆也在移动。 现在科学家发现了大陆大幅度移动的事实。非洲曾经与印度相联，锡兰（斯里兰卡）想必曾经与印度非常接近，不然长尾叶猴不能越过。肯定只有一条小河，两个大陆间有一条小溪。现有科学家们证明大陆移动，它们不断地变化着：一切都在变化，没有什么是静止的。 据报道，埃丁顿曾经说过，在他的一生中他渐渐认识到有一个人类的词是绝对错误的，那就是"静止"，因为没有静止。一切都在不断地运动，没有什么处于静止的状态，没有什么能够——生命是一种流动。如果生命是一种流动，那么这个造轮子的人是对的，因为他说没有什么可以言说，对于每个轮子，它都是不同的：木材不同，车不同，情形不同，道路不同——你必须注意到它："我无法把这个用话说出来，我甚至无法教会我自己的儿子。" 教你自己的儿子真是困难。你听说过佛陀能够教他自己的儿子吗？你听说过庄子的亲生儿子如何、老子的儿子如何吗？父亲教他自己的儿子是非常困难的，因为他们的自我总是对抗性的，这非常困难，因为儿子总是在与父亲对抗。他想要证明些什么，证明他比他父亲优秀。他认为他的父亲只是个老傻瓜。父亲不会相信他的儿子能够学任何东西。他只是个儿子，他仍是个儿子。即使儿子70岁，父亲90岁，他认为他只是个孩子。在父子之间找到一个交会点是非常困难的，几乎不可能。 这个造轮子的人说他甚至无法教会他儿子，离他那么近的人。他无法说出他的意思，于是他70岁了，仍在造轮子。他在说，该是我退休的时候了，我现在已经够老了。身体都老化了，我再也干不了了。但怎么办？没有人能够学这门技艺，我还在这儿做轮子。 记住，苏非教徒是唯一非常漂亮地运用这个故事的人，因为他们总是通过一门技艺来传教——只有苏非教徒。他们通过一门技艺传教。技艺可以是任何东西：木匠或造轮人的技艺，画家的技艺，鞋匠的技艺，或任何其他东西。苏非教通过技艺传教；首先你从师父那儿学会一门技艺，然后他将教你最最内在的东西。Why?这看上去很荒谬！ 10年来门徒学习如何做鞋，10年，12年，甚至20年，当他成为一个十足的制鞋专家时，师父开始教他有关内在世界的东西。这看来完全是浪费时间。但这不是，因为苏非教徒说问题不是你学什么，专业不是问题——问题是怎么去学。一旦你懂得了怎么去学，最最深处的钥匙马上就可以给你了。在10年或20年里与师父在一起学习如何做鞋，门徒汲取了精神。他汲取师父的精神越多，他就越能成为一个完美的鞋匠。精神是不可触摸的，不可言说的——只有学习才能汲取。什么都可以——无论师父觉得什么是合适的，或者无论他的技艺在哪一方面。当他感到你能够汲取，你汲取了技艺时，他将教给你内在世界。那时他将把你带到寺庙的门前。那时他会说："现在我可以交出钥匙了。"如果你连做鞋都学不会，你怎么能学习那神性？ 这个造轮者的观点是完全止确的。"所以现在我在这里，70岁了，还在做轮子！"当我活着的时候没有人能够向我学，你又怎么能向死去的圣贤去学呢？如果连造轮子都学不会，你怎么能学会至高无上的生命的艺术——将神性带给人，将人带给神性呢？ "古人带着他们所有真正知道的东西一起进了坟墓。所以，大人，您所读的东西里只有他们留下的糟粕罢了！" 这是要记住的——最为深刻的句子之一。"古人带着他们所有真正知道的东西一起进了坟墓。"当佛陀死去，他所知道的一切都随着他一起消失了。这是必然的，这就是它的方式，这就是事物的本相。我们可能不希望这样，但我们的愿望不是问题。摩诃弗所知道的东西从他死去的那一刻起就在这个世界上消失了。不，经文无法承载它，学者无法承载它。文字将被重复和记忆、写作、崇拜，但它们只是尘埃，是残余，是没有生命的东西，是坟墓。你可能将它们造成庙宇，美丽的寺庙，去崇拜，不停地崇拜，但佛陀所知道的与他一起消失了，因为知识与佛陀不是脱离的，那是他的存在，那与他是一体的，那是他自己。当他消失的时候，他的意识进入了无限，河流注入了海洋。你可以继续崇拜那干涸的河床，河流曾经存在的地方，但它不再存在了。你可以造寺庙，朝圣，但这没有多大用处。 这个造轮者在说什么？他在说人应该找一个活着的师父，始终寻找活着的，因为只有活着的是存在的，只有生命能够渗透物质世界。当佛陀消失时，他只是与所有他知道的东西一起消失了。那就是为什么佛陀总是匆匆地教，总是匆匆的给予，寻找一个能够学习的人，因为他们消失的那一刻，所有他们知道的也将消失。 这必须被一次又一次地发现，它不像科学。科学是一种传统；宗教是个体的。如果牛顿发现了某事，它将存在，写在书上放在图书馆里，爱因斯坦能够从中获益。真的，没有牛顿，不会有爱因斯坦，他必须站在牛顿的肩膀上。他可以反对牛顿，但他站在他之上，他是基础。爱因斯坦发现的一切将始终是人类的一部分。那就是为什么科学不断向前发展，积聚着越来越快的速度。 但宗教总是随着发现他的人一起消失。你不能站在佛陀的肩膀上。No!没有可能！你将一次又一次、一次又一次地用你的双脚站立。宗教必须被一次又一次、一次又一次地发现。这是一种个人的发现，它无法成为一种传统。困难，但也美丽，因为它是不能被借用的。它始终是鲜活、年轻而新颖的，它就像爱。马伊纽与莱拉相爱，希里与法里哈德相爱，罗密欧与朱丽叶相爱，但你不能站在他们的肩膀上爱得更多。爱不能成为一种积累性的东西。当你坠入爱河，整个的事情必须被重新发现。当你坠入爱河，几乎是好像在你之前从未有人爱过。有人爱过或没有爱过，都没有什么两样——你从头爱起，发现又是新的。每个情人都进入了清新的爱情的寺庙。没有过去的情人留下的脚印，他们的爱随着他们消失了。这是好的，不然甚至连爱情都将只是一种传统，一条地图上被许多人踩过的小路。当你走上爱的小路，那条数百万人踩过的小路，它不值得再走。它成为一条超级高速公路，一种市场上的东西，一种商品——那么它不再是一个寺庙。但是，当你爱的时候，你是第一次爱！这不是任何人的爱情的重复，这是你的爱情。 神通过你又第一次爱人。这是一句自相矛盾的话——我说"又第一次相爱"。神秘显露了。宗教就是如此，祈祷就是如此，静心就是如此，不，你不能跟从死者，你只能与活着的人在一起。你必须汲取。 当你进入，这将又是第一次。当佛陀消失，一切都随之消失，这是好的。你必须再次发现路途，这是一个永恒的捉迷藏的游戏。神又躲进去了，你必须再次发现他，不然佛陀发现了他，我们就可以在那里放上一个记号："神在此"——就行了！任何一个想要的人就可以去。No!他又躲起来了，记住，他是一个非常灵巧的玩家。你永远不会在他以前躲过的地方找到他。他躲在别的地方。 那就是为什么旧的技巧变得无用，新发明必须一次又一次地被发现，因为神躲在新的地方。他发现新的洞穴，他总是撤离旧的地方。他说："现在它完了，这个洞穴完了，现在让崇拜者们在这里膜拜吧，但我不在了。" 鱼生于水，人生于道。如果鱼，生于水，寻求池和潭中深深的遮蔽，它们所有的需求都满足了。如果人，生于道，沉入无为的深深的遮蔽，忘记侵犯和顾虑，他什么也不缺，他的生命是安全的。