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or zero is not a negative concept in the East; it is the most positive. In the western mind zero means nothing; to the eastern mind zero means all, because out of nothing is born all and to nothing it goes back again.
In the Upanishads there is a beautiful story.... An old father asked his son -- the son had just come back from the university -- 'Have they taught you the one which by learning one learns all? Have they taught you that one?'
The young boy was puzzled; he said, 'What one are you talking about? Whatsoever was available there I have learned all, but what one are you talking about? They never talked about that one which by learning one learns all. I have never heard about it!'
So the father said, 'Go out, look at the tree and bring a fruit from there'; it was an indian tree called 'nayagrodha'. The boy went out and brought some fruit.
In one nayagrodha fruit there are thousands of seeds. The father said, 'Break it,' so he cut it. The father said, 'What do you see there?' He said, 'I see thousands of seeds, and each seed can become one nayagrodha tree.'
The father said, 'Take one seed and cut it.' The son cut the seed and the father said, 'What is there?'
He said, 'Nothing.' The father said, 'Out of this nothing comes the tree. This nothing is that one which I am talking about,' he said. 'By learning this, one learns all, so go back.
'All that you have learned is rubbish... all that you have learned is superficial; you have not learned the substantial. All that you have learned is knowledge but you have not learned the real... you have not known the real, you have not experienced it. Go back! before it is too late!'
The son went back to the master and he said, 'My father is very angry! I went very happy that I had learned everything and my father said, "You have not learned anything -- this is all nonsense! Go back and ask the teacher to teach you the one which by learning one learns all."'
The teacher said, 'Then you will have to go deep into the forest and meditate for years, because you will have to become a nothing, you will have to dissolve into a deep inner void; then you will know that
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