| |
[NOTE: This is a translation from the Hindi discourses: Nahim Ram Bin Thaon. It is being edited for publication, and this version is for reference only.]
Question
BELOVED OSHO,
BEFORE WE ASK ANYTHING WE WOULD LIKE TO OFFER OUR GRATITUDE AND GREETINGS TO YOU.
THE MYSTICS HAVE ALWAYS SAID THAT "THERE IS NOWHERE TO GO BUT IN." YOU ALSO SAY THE SAME. WE ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE WORDS, BUT OUR UNDERSTANDING OF IT DOES NOT GO BEYOND THE VERBAL LEVEL. COULD YOU PLEASE EXPLAIN THE DEEPER MEANING OF IT?
Understanding at the verbal level is not worth calling understanding. In the world of religion there is no greater deception than words. The words can be understood, there is no difficulty in that, but that which is hidden behind the words remains uncomprehended, and that is the real difficulty.
When the word is understood, but not that which lies behind the word, life becomes a great turmoil. We create the illusion of knowing when we do not know, and nothing is more dangerous than assuming that one knows when one does not.
Life begins at the point where knowing happens. Life is transformed through knowing. But if we live under the illusion that we know religion because we know the words, then our mind travels in one direction while our life travels in another, and often these directions are completely opposite. This is why hypocrisy comes to be a daily routine in the life of the so-called religious man.
The so-called religious man seems to be nothing but a hypocrite. He says one thing and lives another, and there is no harmony between what he says and what he lives. The origin of this lack of harmony is in the fact that he has substituted words for understanding.
Let us consider a few more points about this before dealing with the question. The moment we hear the words god, soul, enlightenment, we immediately think that we understand them because we know their meaning that is written in the dictionaries. We know the meaning of "enlightenment"; we know the meaning of "God"; we know the meaning of "soul"; but the verbal meaning is not the existential meaning. Just to say the word god, just to hear the word god, is
|
|
|