Osho on Discriminating between a master and a teacher
Question 4
Beloved Osho,
When we reach a point where insanity can occur, at that state, a breakthrough in consciousness can also occur. please tell us how to shift the gear from insanity to consciousness?
Radha, the question is very significant to every seeker on the path. There comes a moment where there are two possibilities: a breakdown or a breakthrough.
Breakdown rarely happens because it needs certain conditions. For example: you don't have a master, you have been going on your own. You don't have anybody who knows the path. There is danger. Or, you may have a teacher, not a master, misunderstanding him as a master. Then there is more possibility of a breakdown.
A teacher is without any experience. He himself has never traveled on the path, although he is knowledgeable. Perhaps he may be more knowledgeable than any master. And if you are impressed by knowledge, there is danger. Don't be impressed by knowledge, because knowledge can be accumulated from scriptures, from books, from thousands of other sources, but it is all borrowed, dead.
How will you discriminate between a master and a teacher? The line is very fine.
I will tell you one story to make it clear.
One great philosopher, in the days of Gautam Buddha, came to Gautam Buddha to challenge him for a debate. He had been moving all over the country, defeating many many famous, well-known teachers but he had not come across a master. He had no first-hand knowledge, of what a master is.
He thought master and teacher were synonymous terms - they are not. They may be synonymous in the dictionary, but not in reality.
He was a famous man - five hundred disciples of his own always followed him.
Buddha looked at him. There were ten thousand sannyasins of Buddha. There was a great silence because this was the first time that any man had dared to challenge Buddha for a debate. The man must be blind!
Buddha said to the philosopher: "You have been traveling all over the country. You have been asking questions, answers have been given to you. Have you received any answer?"
The man said, "No, my questions are still there."
Buddha said, "I can also answer you but your questions will still be there, because the questions are yours, the answer is mine - there is no bridge, no connection. Your question needs your answer."
The man said, "Then what am I supposed to do?"
Buddha said, "You are really in search of truth? Then for two years, sit by my side. No question - just be silent and watch whatever goes on happening."
The man was certainly sincere. And looking at Buddha, his charismatic presence, his authoritative words, his penetrating eyes... he said, "I am ready. Can I ask my questions after two years?"
Buddha said, "Absolutely! You will have to! If you don't ask, I will remind you."
He sat down by the side of Buddha. At that very moment, an old disciple of Buddha - Mahakashyap - sitting under a tree just nearby, started laughing madly.
The philosopher said, "What has happened to this man?"
Buddha said, "You can ask him; it has never happened before."
The philosopher asked Mahakashyap, "What is the reason? Why did you burst into laughter?"
He said, "The same is my story. I had also come here to challenge Gautam Buddha, but this man played a trick. He said, 'Sit two years by my side and then you can ask whatever you want.' I said,'It is worth it.' But after two years, all my questions had disappeared! So I want to tell you, if you are really interested in asking your questions, this is the time. Ask! After two years, you are finished.
You will be sitting under that other tree."
For two years he sat, and forgot all about time, that two years had passed. And watching, for two years continuously, the beauty, the grace, the sincerity, the authenticity of Gautam Buddha, he became more and more silent. He fell into a certain kind of love, in tune with the heart of Gautam Buddha - his heart also started dancing.
And exactly after two years, Buddha said, "Now it is time. You can ask your questions."
He had only tears of joy in his eyes. He touched Gautam Buddha's feet and he said, "Mahakashyap was right, I am going to the tree."
A master is a totally different phenomenon. He does not teach you anything, he transforms you. He does not give you doctrines, he gives you a totally new level of consciousness. He gives you a new birth.
So if you want to become knowledgeable, this is not the place. But if you want to be awakened, to be enlightened, then you have come to the right place, perhaps accidentally.
A master imparts something invisible. His vibe enters your being.
The teacher only plays with words which cannot reach beyond your mind.
Your mind is only a mechanism. Your being is your reality.
The first thing you have to ask yourself is whether you want to become an Encyclopedia Britannica or you want to fall into the celestial music of existence and become an immortal part of it.
You are already part of it, you just have to be reminded.
The master only makes you remember who you are.
The teacher gives you many theories, many philosophies, many doctrines.
The master only gives you to yourself.
Knowledge in itself is useless, even parrots have knowledge. So don't bother about knowledge. You may be a better parrot... or perhaps not even a better parrot.
I have heard, a bishop had a parrot and he had taught him - with great difficulty - the Sermon on the Mount. Any guest who came was amazed - the parrot was so perfect, they could not believe it.
Perhaps even Jesus was not so impressive as the parrot. But the parrot died and the bishop was in great misery.
He went to the biggest pet shop. There were many parrots of different qualities, qualifications, but nothing satisfied him. His own parrot was so religious and so Christian.
He told the owner, "These parrots won't do," and he described his parrot who was dead.
The man said, "I have the right parrot for you but the price will be too much because it is far superior to your parrot who has died."
The bishop was ready to pay any price. The owner took him inside the shop to a special room where he kept that parrot, a beautiful parrot.
The bishop asked, "What are the qualities?"
He said, "Just look closely and you will see two small threads - one tied to the right foot, another to the left. If you slightly pull on the right foot by the thread, he will repeat the whole Sermon on the Mount.
The bishop said, "And what about the other leg?"
He said, "The other leg is for Jews, because sometimes some Jew may come."
The bishop said, "Jews come - they are my friends. The rabbi lives just opposite my house. He will be the first man to come and see it!"
The owner said, "Then that is the right parrot for you. If you pull the other leg, he will repeat the whole Song of Solomon."
The bishop said, "My God! A double scholar!"
He paid whatever was asked. While he was paying the money, he asked: "And if I pull both the threads together, what will happen?"
Before the owner could say anything, the parrot said, "You idiot - I will fall on my asshole! Never do that!"
Teachers are simply parrots.
A master is not knowledgeable but he knows his experience, his own experience. He does not depend on Gautam Buddha or Jesus Christ. He has entered into his inner subjectivity, and whatever he says is fresh - just born.
Avoid knowledge; insist on experience.
Only experience can bring salvation to you, only experience can give you wings which can liberate you. Neither any book nor any religion nor any teacher - they cannot help. They can only deceive you, perhaps without any intention - they have been deceived, and this deception goes on from century to century. Our whole heritage is thousands of deceptions, and we go on passing them to our children. But if you are not just a curiosity-monger but really thirsty, then existence is very compassionate. According to your thirst, you will find the well. If your thirst is total, you will find the door of the master. And if your thirst is just in the mind, you are not really thirsty. You will be wasting your time, your life, your opportunity because there are thousands of teachers and rarely one master.
Blessed are those who have knocked on the right door.
Buddha said, ”I can also answer you but your questions will still be there, because the questions are yours, the answer is mine – there is no bridge, no connection. Your question needs your answer.”
The man said, ”Then what am I supposed to do?”
Buddha said, ”You are really in search of truth? Then for two years, sit by my side. No question – just be silent and watch whatever goes on happening.”
The man was certainly sincere. And looking at Buddha, his charismatic presence, his authoritative words, his penetrating eyes... he said, ”I am ready. Can I ask my questions after two years?”
Buddha said, ”Absolutely! You will have to! If you don’t ask, I will remind you.” He sat down by the side of Buddha. At that very moment, an old disciple of Buddha – Mahakashyap – sitting under a tree just nearby, started laughing madly.
The philosopher said, ”What has happened to this man?”
Buddha said, ”You can ask him; it has never happened before.”
The philosopher asked Mahakashyap, ”What is the reason? Why did you burst into laughter?”
He said, ”The same is my story. I had also come here to challenge Gautam Buddha, but this man played a trick. He said, ‘Sit two years by my side and then you can ask whatever you want.’ I said,‘It is worth it.’ But after two years, all my questions had disappeared! So I want to tell you, if you are really interested in asking your questions, this is the time. Ask! After two years, you are finished. You will be sitting under that other tree.”
For two years he sat, and forgot all about time, that two years had passed. And watching, for two years continuously, the beauty, the grace, the sincerity, the authenticity of Gautam Buddha, he became more and more silent. He fell into a certain kind of love, in tune with the heart of Gautam Buddha – his heart also started dancing.
And exactly after two years, Buddha said, ”Now it is time. You can ask your questions.”
He had only tears of joy in his eyes. He touched Gautam Buddha’s feet and he said, ”Mahakashyap was right, I am going to the tree.” A master is a totally different phenomenon. He does not teach you anything, he transforms you. He does not give you doctrines, he gives you a totally new level of consciousness. He gives you a new birth.
So if you want to become knowledgeable, this is not the place. But if you want to be awakened, to be enlightened, then you have come to the right place, perhaps accidentally.
A master imparts something invisible. His vibe enters your being. The teacher only plays with words which cannot reach beyond your mind. Your mind is only a mechanism. Your being is your reality. The first thing you have to ask yourself is whether you want to become an Encyclopedia Britannica or you want to fall into the celestial music of existence and become an immortal part of it. You are already part of it, you just have to be reminded.
The master only makes you remember who you are. The teacher gives you many theories, many philosophies, many doctrines. The master only gives you to yourself.
-Osho, "Sermons in Stones, #30, Q4"