25 have heard a story. Once a villager entered a big bank; many people were coming and going and much business was going on. Suddenly the villager cried, shouted at the top of his voice, "Did somebody drop a wad of notes with a rubber band around it?" Many people cried, "Yes, I did," and they ran towards him. A crowd gathered and everybody was claiming the money. The villager said, "I have found the rubber band." Whenever I say truth, whenever I say silence, you will only find the rubber band; the notes will be missing. The word will reach you but not with the weight of the notes. Those notes will be left behind -- they are in my heart; the word will reach but it is just a rubber band. It may have been around the notes, but it is still just a rubber band. Truth is incommunicable, but then what have masters been doing? They seem to be involved in an absurd activity. Yes, that is right: they are trying to say something which cannot be said, and they are indicating something which cannot be indicated. They are trying to communicate something which has never been Message Beyond Words Message Beyond Words I
2
Embed
Message Beyond Words - Osho World Beyond Words I communicated and never will be communicated. Then what are they doing? Their whole effort is absurd, but still there is something in
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
25
have heard a story. Once a villager entered a big
bank; many people were coming and going and
much business was going on. Suddenly the
villager cried, shouted at the top of his voice, "Did
somebody drop a wad of notes with a rubber band
around it?" Many people cried, "Yes, I did," and they ran
towards him. A crowd gathered and everybody was
claiming the money. The villager said, "I have found the
rubber band."
Whenever I say truth, whenever I say silence, you will
only find the rubber band; the notes will be missing. The
word will reach you but not with the weight of the notes.
Those notes will be left behind -- they are in my heart; the
word will reach but it is just a rubber band. It may have
been around the notes, but it is still just a rubber band.
Truth is incommunicable, but then what have masters
been doing? They seem to be involved in an absurd
activity. Yes, that is right: they are trying to say
something which cannot be said, and they are indicating
something which cannot be indicated. They are trying to
communicate something which has never been
MessageBeyondWords
MessageBeyondWords
I
communicated and never will be communicated.
Then what are they doing? Their whole effort is absurd,
but still there is something in their effort -- their
compassion.
Knowing well that I cannot say that which I want to
say, the easiest course is that I should remain silent,
because if I know it cannot be said then why bother?
You cannot understand my words, but will you be able
to understand my silence? So it is a trial between two
evils.
It is better I remain silent; that would be more
consistent. It cannot be said therefore I should remain
silent. But will you be able to understand my silence?
The word you may not be able to understand but you
can hear it, and some possibility is open. Hearing it
continuously, you may become aware of something
which has not been said in the word. Listening to me, by
and by, you may become aware of me, not of what I am
saying. The word will help, just as a bait -- you may be
caught in the net. But if I am silent, you will pass by my
side. You will not even become aware that I am there,
and even that possibility will be lost.
So when masters speak, they don't speak to tell the
truth that cannot be told. They have a choice: either they
can remain silent or they can talk. With silence you will
miss them completely. With words a possibility opens,
not a certainty because everything depends on you, but
a possibility opens. Listening continuously to a Buddha
you will some day become silent, because just being
near a Buddha is being near a pool of silence, an energy,
a tremendous energy which has become silent. This is
what Indians call satsang -- to be near the truth. It is not
a question of communication. Just to be near the truth
can be infectious -- just as you come near a river and the
breeze becomes cooler. You may not see the river; it may
still be far away, but the breeze carries the message and
you feel a coolness coming.
When you come near a Buddha the words are the
carrying just such a coolness -- buddha is somewhere
near. You may start groping for him; you may be lost in
his words. Then you are lost in the forest and the river is
missed. But if you are alert, intelligent, then, by and by,
you will feel from where this wind is blowing, from
where these words are coming. And these words carry a
silence around them. It may be just a rubber band, but
that rubber band has been in deep contact with the
notes. It carries something, something of the sound from
where this breeze is coming. If you can follow
intelligently, sooner or later you will reach the source.
The words of a Buddha may not be able to
communicate the truth, but they can communicate the
music, the music that exists in one who is enlightened.
They carry the melody, something of the source, a tiny
part, a very tiny part, but something of the source. It
should be so, because when a word comes out of a
Buddha it carries something of the Buddha. It has to be
so. The word has been vibrating in his being, it has been
in touch with Buddha's heartbeat, it has passed through
the Buddha's silence, it has been in the womb, the womb
of the Buddha. It carries the scent, the fragrance. It is a
distant cry, but still....
You may be lost in the words -- then you miss the
Buddha -- but if you are aware that the word cannot
carry the truth, then you will always put aside the word
and follow the perfume, put aside the word and follow
the music, put aside the word and follow the presence. If
I suddenly say, "Hey!" you look at me. The word is
meaningless, but the look.... Suddenly you become
aware of me. That awareness has to be followed, so then,
words can become a help. They may not tell the truth
but they can become a help, a step towards the truth.
Osho: A Bird on the Wing
Chapter #8
Read or Listen toFull Discourse onwww.oshoworld.com
OSHOB O O K S H O P
17 Shriram Building, Jawahar Nagar, Near Hans Raj College, Malkaganj Chowk, Delhi. Tel: 23854448