Gautam Buddha Persuaded by Gods to Speak
Every master has come to this point, to decide whether to say anything or to remain silent. Even Gautam Buddha, when he became enlightened, did not speak a single word for seven days, because he could not find a way to say what he had found. Words don’t exist for that experience. And whatever you say about it immediately becomes wrong. The moment the inner experience enters into outer expression, something goes dead. The living dance is no more there; the throbbing pulse is no more there.
Seven days after his enlightenment, Gautam Buddha was persuaded to speak. He had argued very hard on the point. He said, ”For one thing, what I have found cannot be said. I can at the most indicate, just like a finger pointing to the moon; but it is not saying anything about the moon. The danger is that unconscious people may start clinging to the finger, rather than looking at the moon; that has happened in almost all religions. They are holding their scriptures, their holy scriptures. They are only fingers pointing to the moon – where is the moon?
Everybody is looking into his holy scripture. ”Secondly,” Gautam Buddha said. ”Even if I manage somehow to figure out a way to express the inexpressible, there is almost a ninety-nine percent guarantee that it will be misunderstood. ”And a third point,” he said. ”I am willing even to speak for that one percent of the intelligentsia – people of the heart, people who are open, not closed. But there is no certainty or guarantee that they will not misinterpret me. And once I have said something, I am no more master of it. I am master of it only while I am silent.”
His arguments are valid. And the people who were persuading him felt that what he was saying was right, but somehow he had to be convinced to speak. It is very rare that a man comes to this highest peak of consciousness, and if he remains silent humanity will not be enriched by him. He could shower the whole world with his blessings; he could bring the whole world into a deep silence where understanding blossoms. No opportunity can be lost, and a buddha is a great opportunity for the transformation of the whole world.
So they insisted, ”Your arguments are all right, we agree with you. But one thing we want to say to you is that if, after millions of people, a single person reaches to such heights, such depths ... even if he is misunderstood, misinterpreted, it does not matter. At least one percent, probably, will understand him – and that is a big percentage as far as humanity is concerned. You cannot deny that one percent the great opportunity that has arisen in you. There may be a few people just on the verge of awakening – a little push and they may be on the same height, as awake as you are.
And even if you go on missing the target, what is the harm? People were unconscious, they will remain unconscious. But you have to be compassionate, at least for the one percent that you have accepted.” Out of his compassion, Buddha agreed. And as he had said, it happened. Very few people understood him, but those who understood him became transformed beings; they went through a metamorphosis. A new kind of light started shining through their being; a new aura of energy, like a cool breeze, followed them.
But millions misunderstood, misinterpreted, and you can see the result. After Gautam Buddha’s death, there was not a single buddha in the land where he was born, because the masses, with their ignorance, confusion and condemnation, distorted everything. Thirty-two schools arose after Gautam Buddha’s death, interpreting things in their own ways and fighting amongst themselves. And the old Indian priesthood – the Brahmins – did not miss the chance. The priest is always afraid of the awakened one, because he is the one who can destroy his whole profession.
Jesus was not crucified by ordinary people; he was crucified by the very scholarly rabbis, and the high priests of the temple of the Jews in Jerusalem – they insisted that he should be crucified. Gautam Buddha was opposed by the priests of India; the reason was the same. The priest is exploiting people in the name of God, of which he knows nothing; in the name of the spiritual, of which he has no idea. But whenever a person comes, radiant with the experience, the priest becomes afraid. It is not a question of argument; you cannot argue with a buddha – his very presence is convincing. He has not to utter even a word. If he utters some words, it is just to lead you towards wordlessness. He speaks so that you can become silent. His speaking is only a device.
- Osho, "Zen: The Diamond Thunderbolt, #11"
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Gautama the Buddha became enlightened. He came to know the very essence of reality - not only to know, but to experience; not only to know... he became it. And the first question that arose in his mind was, "How am I going to express it? It is too vast. The whole sky... perhaps even the sky is not the limit, and the words are so small. It is so deep that even oceans are not so deep; and words...
they don't have any depth. It is multi-dimensional. Words are linear, one dimensional. How to bring this strange experience to those who are groping on the path, just the way I was groping for millions of lives?"
It is natural that a compassion should arise, because those who are groping are not strangers, they are fellow travelers. You are blessed that you have found the door. Now don't be hard; somehow make the deaf listen, the blind see. Make the words dance and sing and express the ecstasy - but how?
And there is a great dilemma: On the one hand there is compassion, pulling you towards the other seekers. And there is a diametrically opposite pull to remain silent because it is so beautiful to be silent, so blissful, such a benediction. The experience wants you to drown yourself completely in it and the compassion wants you to stay on the shore a little more and shout from the rooftops of the houses to those who are deaf. Perhaps somebody may hear.
For seven days Buddha remained silent. He could not decide what to do. It was easier to remain silent and enjoy the sweetness of the experience and not to bother about others - but it was cruel, it was violent, it was not right for a man of heart. But the trouble was, even if he should decide to express, there are no words in human language which can bring the ultimate experience. In communication, explanation, there is no argument to prove it. The only argument is to experience it. If you ask for proof before the experience, there is no way; it cannot be proved.
Puzzled, he remained silent.
The story is tremendously beautiful, but remember it is a parable, it is not history.
The gods in heaven....
Buddhism does not believe in A god because that is too much a fascist idea. Buddhism believes in gods, a more democratic approach - and each human being ultimately has to become a god; that is the flowering of your potential. Those who have flowered before have become gods; there is no qualitative difference between you and them. They have not created the world. Once they were the same as you are, in the same way ignorant, the same way blind, but they have found their way and they have blossomed, their spring has come.
So in Buddhism the word 'god' is simply an evolutionary term. Man evolves into a god - not that God makes man; man is not a creation of God. God is the ultimate opening of the lotus of your being.
Each being in the world is destined to become a god one day, sooner or later.
So the gods in heaven were waiting for seven days. They were the only ones in the whole of existence who knew that Gautam had come home, and they all wanted him to speak - because rare is the chance, unique is the opportunity when somebody comes to such a glory, such a blessedness.
The flower should not disappear without leaving its fragrance all around. Gautama should speak.
But seven days had passed, and he was going deeper and deeper and sinking within himself. Afraid - because it has happened to many; those who have known have never said a word... not to be hard on them, it is really difficult - a few gods representing the whole galaxy of gods came down to Gautam Buddha.
I was sitting under the same tree thirty years ago, thinking about the story - a poor place, a small river, the Niranjana. The place must have seen its golden time when Buddha became enlightened on Niranjana's river bank. And on the seventh day the gods came and prayed to him, "Please, remember your teachings about compassion. This is the moment to show compassion. Speak!
Whatever you have experienced, give words to it, give wings to it, let it reach to those who are thirsty."
Gautam Buddha said to them, "These seven days I have been struggling, without coming to any conclusion. The problem is, even if I say it I know it has not been said. It is so vast - language is so poor, and it is so rich. Now it is not my fault; even if something goes into the words it will not reach people. Their minds are so full of rubbish, they will interpret it. Who is there to listen? For listening, innocence is needed.
"Here, unfortunately, in this country everybody is so knowledgeable that you cannot find a single person in the whole country who can say, 'I don't know.' He is willing to give a discourse on god, on heaven and hell... ten thousand years' knowledge has been gathering and being transferred from one generation to another generation, layer upon layer. Every mind has become so full of knowledge that nobody is ready to listen."
So Buddha said, "It is better just to be silent."
The gods went into a nearby bamboo grove to discuss what to do. "What he is saying is right, but somehow he has to be convinced to speak, because one never knows when another person is going to become enlightened again. We can understand his difficulty, but we cannot allow him to remain silent. It is very, very difficult to find such a cultured, articulate individual who becomes enlightened. He will find some way."
They came back, and they found a little loophole in Buddha's argument. They said, "You are right as far as ninety-nine percent of people are concerned, or even 99.9 percent of people are concerned; you are right. But what about the .1 percent of people? You cannot deny that there may be one person who may listen to you. There may be one person in the whole world who may be transformed by your words, and if you don't speak, he will go on groping in darkness - he is just on the boundary line, needs a little push. Don't be so hard. Just for a few individuals, speak."
- Osho, "The Osho Upanishad, #27"