When the master recites the sutra, he already knows the truth, hence he finds the truth in the sutra. A man who does not know the truth will be simply wasting time. He will not find any truth in the sutra. He will become knowledgeable, but he will not become enlightened.
It is strange … but I also insist on the fact. Don’t read scriptures now, but when you have become a buddha, then enjoy the scriptures. There are many diamonds here and there, and many rubies and many emeralds, much treasure — but first you should find yourself.
First you should find your clarity of vision.
An ignorant man, an unconscious man, will stuff sutras into his mind, borrowed, meaningless. But a man who has realized, who has come to his very center, a man who does not need to read the sutras — he knows the truth — can entertain himself.
It is almost like a bank, the same principle. If you have money, the bank is ready to give you a loan. If you don’t have money, no bank is ready to give you a loan. Strange! The ordinary logic will be: the man who has no money, give him the loan; and the man who has money, there is no need to give him a loan. But that is not how banks work.
The same is true on a higher level. A man who has the truth has no need to read the sutra, and can enjoy it. It is a beauty. He can find nuances which you will never find, he can find diamonds which you will pass by because you don’t know what a diamond is. You have known only stones, colored stones.
I am reminded of a story.
A poor man, a potter … In India, potters use the donkey to carry their pots to the marketplace to sell — mud pots. He was coming back after selling all the pots, himself sitting on the donkey, and then he saw by the side of the road a huge stone, shining, radiating.
He said, “Great! My donkey will enjoy it. I have never given him anything.” So he got down and picked up the stone. It was not a stone; it was an unpolished diamond.
He was very happy sitting on the donkey. He told the donkey, “When we reach home, I will make a hole in it and hang it around your neck. I have never given you anything – I am poor, you are poor — but this is a beautiful thing, it radiates. You will be the only donkey in the whole world with such a beautiful stone hanging around you.”
Just then a jeweler passed by in his chariot. He stopped the chariot, and he could not believe his eyes. A man was sitting on a donkey, holding such a huge diamond – many times bigger than the Kohinoor, which is now in the British Museum, given to the queen as a gift. It was a gift from the Nizam of Hyderabad.
But that diamond the potter was holding in his hand was far bigger than the Kohinoor.
The charioteer stopped, the jeweller got down. He asked, “How much will you take for this stone?” He did not say diamond; he knew perfectly well that this fellow did not understand that it was a diamond.
The poor man said, “Four annas will do. I will purchase something for my poor donkey.”
F..o..u..r annas??? — the jeweller became greedy. He said, “Just for a stone … I will give you two annas.”
At that moment a king had come by on his horse for hunting. He stopped his horse, and he looked at the diamond. Because the king had come, the jeweler moved his chariot, just slowly, thinking that the potter would understand who was going to give him two annas.
“If he does not come back to me I will raise the price to three annas. Or if the worst comes to the worst I will give him four annas.”
But when he came back, the king was there, and the king said, “How much has that jeweler offered for this diamond?”
The potter exclaimed, “Diamond?? I thought it was a stone, so I asked him for four annas, and he offered me two annas.”
The king said, “Its worth is one million rupees at least. I will give you one million rupees.”
At that time the jeweler came running, because he knew it was worth almost ten million rupees. He said to the potter, “I am the first customer, and you have offered it to me for four annas. I am ready to give it.”
The potter said, “Now it is too late. I was an ignorant potter, I had no idea that it was a diamond. But you are a jeweler, and your greed is infinite. You could not give even four annas. The king has given me the order to take it to the palace for one million rupees.”
The question is of recognition. A master like Yakusan can read the sutras because he can recognize what is true and what is not true. He can enjoy the ancient buddhas and their statements, their articulateness, and how they expressed such mysterious phenomena in simple words.
You have already enough weight — so many illusions, so many desires, so many ambitions, so much greed. What will you do with meditation and wisdom? They will become an unnecessary load on your head. You cannot even go to bed without all kinds of tensions, anxieties, anguish, angst.
Your consciousness is both: it is the highest mountain and it is the deepest sea. Its roots go to the deepest being of your existence, and its branches reach to the stars. Unless you have both, you should not ask about meditation and wisdom. Meditation takes you to the roots of your being, to the very bottom of the sea, and then suddenly sprouts a tremendous flowering tree which reaches to the stars. You can have both together. Meditation takes you deeper, and wisdom takes you higher. This is the vertical dimension I have talked to you about, the whole expanse of the vertical dimension: as deep as the bottom of the deepest sea … For example, the Pacific Ocean is five miles deep; that is nothing, you are going to be deeper. You are going to be higher than Everest in the Himalayas.
And this is your possibility, which other religions have been preventing you from. They are calling you to the church, temple, synagogue and mosque; I am calling you to your own potential. I am persuading you to reach to the highest consciousness and the deepest meditation, and you will have all the splendor of existence in your hands.
In contrast to Osho’s story of ignorance and misplaced value, this below mentioned anecdote shared by Mr. Vallabh Bhansali beautifully illustrates the meeting of two awakened minds — both aware of worth, both grounded in clarity. When truth meets truth, the transaction transcends commerce; it becomes a quiet test of conviction. Thank you, Vallabh Bhansali Sir, for sharing this gem of a story.
“Legend has it that the famous jeweller Charles Lewis Tiffany knew John Pierpont Morgan (JPMorgan), had a liking for necktie pins. One fine day, Mr. Tiffany found a diamond one, particularly uncommon and extraordinarily beautiful. As was the custom at that time, before 1900, he sent a messenger to Mr. Morgan’s office with the pin fancily wrapped in a box and the following note: “Dear Mr. Morgan, knowing how much you appreciate necktie pins, I’m sending you this rare and exquisite piece for your consideration. Due to its rarity, the price is US$ 5,000. If you choose to accept it, please, send a messenger to my office tomorrow with your check for US$5,000. If you choose not to accept it, you can send your messenger back with the pin.”
The next day, Mr. Morgan’s messenger arrived at Tiffany’s with the same box in a new package and a different envelope. In this envelope there was a note that read: “Dear Mr. Tiffany, the pin is really magnificent. However, US$5,000 is a little over the top. So, enclosed is a check for US$4,000. If you accept it, please send my messenger back with the box. If not, return the check and he will leave the box with you.”
Tiffany looked at the check for several minutes. It was actually a lot of money. However, he was sure the pin was worth the US$5,000 he had asked for. Finally, he told the messenger: “You can return the check to Mr. Morgan. My price is firm.” And thus, the messenger took the check back and put the gift-wrapped box on Mr. Tiffany’s table. Tiffany sat down for a minute thinking about the check he had returned and then he unwrapped the box to get the pin out.
Upon opening the box, he didn’t find the pin. He found a check for US$5,000 from Morgan and a note with just one sentence:
JUST CHECKING THE PRICE.”
Between the ignorant potter and the discerning jeweller, between Osho’s diamond and Morgan’s pin, lies the same truth — value is never in the object, but in the eye that sees it. Awareness transforms possession into understanding.
When ignorance meets truth, it bargains; when wisdom meets truth, it recognizes. The journey from one to the other is the essence of awakening.
Osho: Christianity: The Deadliest Poison and Zen: The Antidote to All Poisons Chapter #4 Chapter title: This you call civilization? (Excerpts)
हम को उन से वफ़ा की है उम्मीद
जो नहीं जानते वफ़ा क्या है……………मिर्ज़ा ग़ालिब
ham ko un se vafā kī hai ummīd
jo nahīñ jānte vafā kyā hai…………….MIRZA GHALIB
We expect loyalty from those
who do not even know what loyalty means.
In the end, all understanding begins with the heart – simple, trusting, unguarded. Just as Osho’s parable and Mr. Bhansali’s story reflect the journey from ignorance to awareness, this sufi song originally sung by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan speaks of that innocent faith which precedes knowing. “Sadaagi to hamari zara dekhiye, aitbaar aap ke waade par kar liya”. There is something divine in that unguarded faith – the kind that believes before it questions, that loves before it understands. For perhaps, in that pure simplicity, truth first finds its way to the heart.
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