When the Shoe Fits - Oshorajneesh.com

CHAPTER 9. DUKE HWAN AND THE WHEELRIGHT
That is why more imagination is possible with a dead master – now YOU can give the significance,
the superiority, the other-worldliness.
But with a living person it is impossible unless you have a heart of faith, total faith; and for those who
have a heart of total faith Buddha is never the body, alive or dead. He is never the body. Because
they penetrate deeply, Buddha is transparent. He may be in the body but he is not the body; he
may be living amongst you but he does not belong to you – he is somewhere from the high. That is
the meaning of a Christ, the son of God. That is the meaning of an AVATAR, a descendance of the
Divine. That is the meaning of a TEERTHANKARA – a Buddha. He comes from the invisible, but it
can be seen only through the eye of faith. The mind cannot look at it. But when he is dead the mind
can project.
So the first thing is that the longer the period, the gap, the more the time between you and Buddha,
Jesus, Mahavir, the more your imagination has freedom. You can project, you can create a dream
around them. Then they become more a myth and less a reality, then a whole myth is created
around them. Then you can worship, then you can listen to them.
But the trouble is that when a Buddha is alive he can help you. When a Buddha is alive you
can imbibe his spirit. When a Buddha is alive it is possible for something to be communicated,
transferred. But when he is dead, it becomes more and more impossible. Why? Because that which
is to be given cannot be given through language. If it can be given through language, then there
are scriptures, then there is the word of the Buddha. But it cannot be given through the word. The
word is just an excuse. Buddha speaks to you’ it is just an excuse to create a contact on the plane
of the mind. And if you are receptive, something is constantly happening on the side; just between
the words, or between the lines, Buddha is reaching to you – that is a living experience.
He has to transfer not a theory, but himself. He has not to communicate a hypothesis, a philosophy,
but a living experience, and that is more like a skill and less like a philosophy. Even if you know how
to swim you cannot teach somebody just through words. What will you say? Whatsoever you say,
you will feel it is not adequate. The only way is to take the disciple with you to the river. First show
him how you swim – give him confidence, give him courage – then tell him, come. And if he trusts
you, he will come with you. Then by and by let him pass through the experience.
Only experience can teach. And spirituality is just like swimming, you cannot say anything about
it. You can describe it, but the description is dead. It is an ALIVE experience. Something happens
when somebody is there who knows the skill. He cannot tell it to you, but you can learn. And this is
the mystery: he cannot teach it to you, but you can learn if you are receptive.
So remember, more depends on the disciple and his receptivity, and less on the master. He is there,
he is present. Now you have to be receptive and imbibe; you have to be receptive and allow; you
have to be receptive and let him penetrate into you. If you are afraid, the whole being shrinks, you
are closed. When you are closed the master can go on knocking at your door but there will be no
response. The more he knocks the more you will shrink, and become scared. So he will not even
knock because that too is aggression. He will simply wait at the door. Whenever you are ready and
open, he can give it to you, he can deliver it instantly. But the disciple has to be ready.
This possibility is there only with a living master. With a dead master, you cannot learn anything.
When the Shoe Fits 122 Osho