PART ONE

THE GREAT WAY IS NOT DIFFICULT FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NO PREFERENCES. WHEN LOVE AND HATE ARE BOTH ABSENT EVERYTHING BECOMES CLEAR AND UNDISGUISED. MAKE THE SMALLEST DISTINCTION, HOWEVER, AND HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE SET INFINITELY APART. IF YOU WISH TO SEE THE TRUTH THEN HOLD NO OPINION FOR OR AGAINST. THE STRUGGLE OF WHAT ONE LIKES AND WHAT ONE DISLIKES IS THE DISEASE OF THE MIND. WE WILL BE ENTERING the beautiful world of a Zen Master's no-mind. Sosan is the third Zen Patriarch. Nothing much is known about him -- this is as it should be, because history records only violence. History does not record silence -- it cannot record it. All records are of disturbance. Whenever someone becomes really silent, he disappears from all records, he is no more a part of our madness. So it is as it should be. Sosan remained a wandering monk his whole life. He never stayed anywhere; he was always passing, going, moving. He was a river; he was not a pond, static. He was a constant movement. That is the meaning of Buddha's wanderers: not only in the outside world but in the inside world also they should be homeless -- because whenever you make a home you become attached to it. They should remain rootless; there is no home for them except this whole universe. Even when it was recognized that Sosan had become enlightened, he continued his old beggar's way. And nothing was special about him. He was an ordinary man, the man of Tao. One thing I would like to say, and you have to remember it: Zen is a crossbreeding. And just as more beautiful flowers can come out of crossbreeding, and more beautiful children are born out of crossbreeding, the same has happened with Zen. Zen is a crossbreeding between Buddha's thought and Lao Tzu's thought. It is a great meeting, the greatest that ever took place. That's why Zen is more beautiful than Buddha's thought and more beautiful than Lao Tzu's thought. It is a tare flowering of the highest peaks and the meeting of those peaks. Zen is neither Buddhist nor Taoist, but it carries both within it. India is a little too serious about religion -- a long past, a long weight on the mind of India, and religion has become serious. Lao Tzu remained a laughingstock -- Lao Tzu is known as the old fool. He is not serious at all; you cannot find a more non-serious man. Then Buddha's thought and Lao Tzu's thought met, India and China met, and Zen was born. And this Sosan was just near the original source when Zen was coming out of the womb. He carries the fundamental. His biography is not relevant at all, because whenever a man becomes enlightened he has no biography. He is no more the form, so when he was born, when he died, are irrelevant facts. That's why in the East we have never bothered about biographies, historical facts. That obsession has never existed here. That obsession has come from the West now; then people become interested more in irrelevant things. When a Sosan is born, what difference does it make -- this year or that? When he dies, how is it important? Sosan is important, not his entry into this world and the body, not his departure. Arrivals and departures are irrelevant. The only relevance is in the being. And these are the only words Sosan uttered. Remember, they are not words, because they come out of a mind which has gone beyond words. They are not speculations, they are authentic experiences. Whatsoever he says, he knows. He is not a man of knowledge, he is a wise man. He has penetrated the mystery, and whatsoever he brings is very significant. It can transform you completely, totally. If you listen to him the very listening can become a transformation, because whatsoever he is saying is the purest gold. But then it is difficult too, because the distance is very very great between you and him: you are a mind and he is a no-mind. Even if he uses words he is saying something in silence; you, even if you remain silent, go on chattering within. It happened: There was a case against Mulla Nasruddin in the court. The court could not prove much. He was charged with polygamy, having many wives. Everybody knew about it, but nobody could prove it. The lawyer said to Nasruddin, "You remain silent, that's all. If you utter a single word you will be caught. So you simply keep quiet and I will look to the matter." Mulla Nasruddin remained silent -- deep down boiling, in turmoil, wanted to interrupt many times, but somehow managed and controlled himself. Outwardly looked like a Buddha, inside a madman. The court couldn't find anything against him. The magistrate, even though he knew that this man had many wives in the town, when there was no proof what could he do? So the magistrate had to release him. He said, "Mulla Nasruddin, you are released. Now you can go home." Mulla Nasruddin looked puzzled and said, "Er -- Your Honor, which home?" He had many homes because he had many wives in the town. A single word from you will show the mind inside; a single word and your whole being is exposed. Not even a word is needed; just a gesture and your chattering mind will be there. Even if you are silent, your silence will not reveal anything other than the chattering monkey within. When a Sosan speaks, he speaks totally on a different plane. He is not interested in speaking; he is not interested in influencing anybody; he is not trying to convince you about some theory or philosophy or ism. No, when he speaks his silence blooms. When he speaks he is saying that which he has come to know and would like to share with you.It is not to convince you, remember -- it is just to share with you. And if you can understand a single word of his, you will feel a tremendous silence being released within you. Just hearing here... We will be talking about Sosan and his words. If you listen attentively, suddenly you will feel a release of silence within you. These words are atomic, they are full of energy. Whenever a person who has attained says something, the word is a seed and for millions of years the word will remain a seed and will seek a heart. If you are ready, ready to become the soil, then these words, these tremendously powerful words of Sosan -- they are still alive, they are seeds -- they will enter in your heart if you allow, and you will be totally different through them. Don't listen to them from the mind, because their meaning is not of the mind; the mind is absolutely impotent to understand them. They don't come from the mind, they cannot be understood by the mind. They come from a no-mind. They can be understood only by a state of no-mind. So while listening here don't try to interpret. Don't listen to the words but to the gaps between the lines, not to what he says but to what he means -- the significance. Let that significance hover around you like a fragrance. Silently it will enter you; you will become pregnant. But don't interpret. Don't say, "He means this or that," because that interpretation will be yours. -- Osho (The Book of Nothing)