Question 1:

Does there ever come a moment when one knows why things are this way and not that way?

 

 

NO, THAT MOMENT NEVER COMES. That moment cannot come, knowledge is impossible. Life is a mystery — the more you know about it, the more mysterious it becomes. You cannot reduce it to a formula, you cannot reduce it to theories. It never becomes a doctrine. The deeper you go, the deeper you feel ignorant. But that ignorance is blissful. That not-knowing is utterly beautiful, it is a benediction, because in that not-knowing your ego dies. That not-knowing becomes the grave for your ego. And wonder arises: OH! And a great joy.

 

Knowledge is a kill-joy. Knowledgeable people are not joyous people, knowledgeable people become serious. They are burdened, their heart dances no more, only their head goes on growing out of all proportion. It becomes like a canceric growth — their whole body disappears, all their limbs shrink, and there is only the head. They become head-heavy.

 

When knowledge disappears you are utterly at peace with life and existence. Knowledge divides. Let me repeat it: Knowledge divides you from existence. Because the knower cannot be the known, the knower is separate from the known. And because of that separation there is continuous anguish, anxiety; something is continuously missing. Only a not-knower can become one with life. So not-knowing unites, knowledge divides.

 

In a state of not-knowing, you start melting with the trees and mountains and stars. You don’t know where you end and where they begin, you don’t know anything. You are again a child collecting seashells on the beach. Again a child collecting flowers, wild flowers. Again a child, your eyes are full of wonder. Through that wonder you start feeling what existence is — not knowing but feeling. You start loving that which is — not knowing but loving. And through feeling and loving, you start living for the first time. Who cares, who bothers, about knowledge?

 

You ask, ‘Does that moment ever come where one knows why things are the way they are, and not in any other way?’

 

No, things are the way they are, there is no other way. This is the only way. And there is no why to it, otherwise you could have come to know. There is no cause to it, otherwise you would have decoded it. There is no reason for existence. It is utterly absurd, it should not exist, there is no reason for it. Why should there be trees and stars and men and women — why? There is no reason why there should be love, why there should be consciousness. Why at all? The why starts slipping from you. The more you become silent, the more you attain to the state of not-knowing, the why starts slipping. One day suddenly you are not searching for causes and reasons and whys. You simply start dancing. You cannot answer why you are dancing, there is no answer to it. And all answers that have been given are false.

 

Why do you love? Why does music thrill YOU? Why, seeing a flower in the morning, are you suddenly pulled by it like a magnet? Why in the night are you so attracted to the moon? Why? A child giggling, and you stop for a moment to see the child and you feel happy. Why is there happiness? Why is there celebration? Why is there LIFE? Why does existence exist? There is no reason. And if you find any reason, the question will again be relevant to ask — why?

 

If you say God created the world then the question comes, why did He create the world? It doesn’t solve anything, it simply pushes the question a little deeper — why did God create the world?

 

Just the other day I was reading a theologian’s kook. and he says, ‘What was God doing when He had not created the world?’ Now one question has not been solved by the answer, and a very strange question arises: what was God doing? — because He must have existed for eternity before He created the world. And the Christians believe that He created the world only a few thousand years before — four thousand and four years before Jesus Christ. So what was He doing before that? He must have been feeling utterly bored.

 

He must have gone mad or may have committed suicide. What was He doing? Or He was just asleep, dreaming dreams. And what has He been doing since then? Since He created the world, where has He disappeared? And what will He do when He has destroyed this world? Again He will be bored with Himself. He must be really lonely.

 

Now these unnecessary questions, because you answered one question. Mm? You were feeling uneasy with the world so you said God created the world. You wanted some convenience, some comfort — that it is not just an accident, that there is a God-father who looks after it, that you are not alone. You wanted some kind of security. And now that one question has not been answered, and a thousand and one questions have arisen out of it. Why did He create in the first place? Did He need it? If He needed it then He’s as needy as man — then He’s not perfect, something was missing.

 

Was He greedy? Was He an expansionist? Why? And why THIS world? With so much misery and so much suffering and so much illness and disease and death — why THIS world? If He created it He could have created a better world. He doesn’t seem to be a great creator.

 

I have heard: A man went to a tailor, a famous tailor, and he said that his suit had to be ready as soon as possible, he was going for a world tour. And the tailor said, ‘Look, it will take at least six weeks — not before that, I am too busy. And I am a perfectionist; when I do a thing I do it perfectly. You will have to wait at least six weeks, before that it is not possible.’

 

The man said, ‘Six weeks? Don’t you remember God created the whole world in six days?’ And the tailor said, ‘I know. And look at the world, how He messed it. That’s what happens if you do things in six days. I cannot do that, it will take six weeks.’

 

Why did God create this ugly miserable world? Why did He create this hell? Doesn’t seem to be a master-creator, seems to be a very poor artisan. And there are a thousand and one mistakes in it. You don’t solve by answering the why. Buddha is far more true, he says nobody has ever created it. In that way he disposes of your question. He says it has always been there and will always be there — for no reason at all, for no cause at all. It exists without cause. That is difficult for the rational mind, because we always look for the cause. Once the cause is given we feel at ease. It is a hankering for the reason; once we know the explanation and the cause and the reason, we feel good that we know. But what do you know?

 

All the theology down the ages has not supplied a single answer. The whole philosophy of five thousand years has proved absolutely futile.

 

If you understand me, then I would like to say that there never comes a moment of knowledge when you have known why the world is the way it is and why it is not in any other way. The more deeply you go into your being, less and less questions arise. One day all questions disappear. I am not saying that you get any answer, only questions disappear. The man we call enlightened is not the man who knows the answer, but is the man whose questions have disappeared. He no more has any questions. In that state of non-questioning there is great silence, utter silence, absolute silence. And a beautiful not-knowing.

 

That not-knowing comes, that not-knowing is enlightenment. Buddha has not known a single thing. All that he has come to is, his questions have disappeared. Now there is no more any question buzzing in his mind; all that noise has gone. He is left alone in silence. He is no more a knower, he has no claim that he knows this or that. He knows only nothing. That’s what Buddha calls ‘nirvana’ — to know nothing, or to know ONLY nothing. To be in a state of not-knowing is samadhi.

 

- Osho, “This Very Body the Buddha, #7, Q1”