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his food -- he is teaching. He is asleep -- he is teaching. A master is a continuum of message. He is teaching.
Once it happened: A man came to a Zen master and asked to be taught. The master said, "Okay. You be here, and I will teach you." The man remained for one, two, three hours, then his patience came to an end.
Many people were coming and going. Many people were asking many questions -- the master had many disciples, a great monastery, and he was talking to people, teaching people, giving them methods, solving their problems -- and the man was sitting in the corner. He became very impatient, almost feverish.
When he could get a time he said, "Wait. I have been here for three hours and you have not taught me anything!"
The master looked at him and said, "What have I been doing the whole time? People came, they asked me questions, I answered. There was teaching in it -- not in the answer but in the answering. You should have watched how I answered. People came, they greeted me, I responded. There was teaching. And sometimes people came and they simply sat by my side in silence, and I was silent, they were silent -- there was teaching for you. What have I been doing for these three hours, you fool! I have been teaching you." But the man was at a loss. He couldn't understand what type of teaching this was.
A master does not teach, he IS the teaching. His whole being is a message, a continuous message. The way he moves his eyes, the way he gestures, the way he looks at you -- something is there continuously being conveyed. And if you cannot see you are blind.
It is not a question to ask a master: Will you teach me? That is what he exists for. His own work is fulfilled, his own work done. As far as he himself is concerned now there is no need to breathe anymore, everything is finished. If he lingers a little while on the shore, it is for you; otherwise his ship has arrived. In fact, the ship has been waiting long. If he lingers a little while more on the shore it is for you. It is to teach. It is to share that which he has attained. It is not a question of asking a master, "Will you teach me?" Rather, on the contrary, one
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