Nothingness is the fragrance of the beyond. It is the opening of the heart to the transcendental. It is the unfoldment of the one-thousand-petaled lotus. It is man's destiny. Man is complete only when he has come to this fragrance, when he has come to this absolute nothingness inside his being, when this nothingness has spread all over him, when he is just a pure sky, unclouded.

 

This nothingness is what Buddha calls nirvana. First we have to understand what this nothingness actually is, because it is not just empty -- it is full, it is overflowing. Never for a single moment think that nothingness is a negative state, an absence, no. Nothingness is simply nothingness. Things disappear, only the ultimate substance remains. Forms disappear, only the formless remains. Definitions disappear, the undefined remains.

 

So nothingness is not as if there is nothing. It simply means there is no possibility of defining what is there. It is as if you remove all the furniture from your house and put it outside. Somebody comes in and he says, "Now, here is nothing." He has seen the furniture before; now the furniture is missing and he says, "Here there is no longer anything. Nothing is." His statement is valid only to a certain extent. In fact, when you remove the furniture, you simply remove obstructions in the space of the house. Now pure space exists, now nothing obstructs. Now there is no cloud roaming in the sky; it is just a sky. It is not just nothing, it is purity. It is not only absence, it is a presence.

 

Have you ever been in an absolutely empty house? You will find that emptiness as a presence; it is very tangible, you can almost touch it. That's the beauty of a temple or a church or a mosque -- pure nothing, just empty. When you go into a temple, what surrounds you is nothingness. It is empty of everything, but not just empty. In that emptiness something is present -- but only present for those who can feel it, who are sensitive enough to feel it, who are aware enough to see it.

 

Those who can see only things will say, "What is there? Nothing." Those who can see nothing will say, "All is here, because nothing is here."

 

The identity of 'yes' and 'no' is the secret of nothingness. Let me repeat it; it is very basic to Buddha's approach: nothingness is not identical with 'no', nothingness is the identity of 'yes' and 'no', where polarities are no more polarities, where opposites are no more opposites. [....]

 

If you ask a religious man who he is he can only say, "I am a nothingness," because nothingness is not an idea, it is not a theory. It simply indicates a state of purity.

 

Remember, perception has nothing to do with knowledge. In fact, when you perceive through knowledge you don't perceive rightly. All knowledge creates projections. Knowledge is a bias, knowledge is a prejudice. Knowledge is conclusion -- you have concluded even before you have gone into it.

 

For example, if you come to me with a conclusion already in your mind -- it may be for me, it may be against me, that doesn't matter -- if you come to me with a conclusion then you come with a cloud. Then you will go on looking at me through your cloud, and naturally your cloud will throw shadows on me. If you have come with the idea, "This is the right man," then you will find something which goes on supporting your idea. If you have come with the idea, "This is a wrong man, dangerous, evil," then you will go on finding something which supports your idea.

 

Whatsoever idea you bring is self-perpetuating, it goes on finding proofs for itself. And the man who has come with a prejudice will go with his prejudice strengthened. In fact, he has never come to me.

 

To come to me one needs to be unclouded, with no prejudice for or against, with no a priori judgment. You just come to see what is there, you don't bring any opinion. You have heard many things but you don't believe any. You simply come to see with your own eyes, you come to feel with your own heart. That is the quality of a religious man.

 

And if you want to know truth you will have to drop all kinds of knowledge that you have gathered down the ages, in many, many lives. Whenever somebody comes to truth with knowledge he cannot see it, he is blind. Knowledge blinds you. If you want to have clear eyes, drop knowledge. Perception has nothing to do with knowledge.

 

Truth and knowledge don't go together. Knowledge cannot contain the immensity of life and existence. Knowledge is so tiny, so small, and existence is so vast, so enormous -- how can it contain existence? It cannot. And if you force existence into your patterns of knowledge you will destroy the beauty of it and you will destroy the truth of it. Once existence is converted into knowledge it is no longer existence. It is as if a person is carrying a map of India and thinks that he is carrying India. No map can contain India.

 

The picture of the moon is not the moon. The word god is not God; the word love is not love either. No word can contain the mysteries of life. And knowledge is nothing but words and words and words. Knowledge is a great illusion. That's why Buddha says: Allow nothingness to settle in you.

 

Nothingness means a state of not-knowing, a state where no cloud floats into your consciousness. When your consciousness is unclouded, then you are nothing. Nothing goes perfectly well with truth -- only nothing goes perfectly well with truth. Knowledge cannot contain the mystery of being; knowledge is against the mysterious. 'The mysterious' means that which is not known, that which cannot be known, that which is basically, intrinsically, essentially unknowable -- not only unknown, but unknowable. How can the unknowable be reduced to knowledge? Knowledge goes on collecting pebbles on the shore and goes on missing the diamonds. Knowledge is mediocre, borrowed, never authentic, never original. To know truth you need an insight, original insight. You need eyes which can see through and through; you need transparent vision.

 

So only when the mind is entirely naked of knowledge, empty of knowledge, does it come to know. When there is no knowledge, there is knowledge, because when there is no knowledge there is knowing. When the mind is entirely naked of knowledge, nude, silent, non-functioning, when the mind is in waiting, with no idea for what, just a pure waiting, expectant but not knowing for what, waiting for the guest but with no idea, waiting for the knock of the guest with an open door but with no idea who this guest is.... How can you know it beforehand?

 

If you carry a blueprint of God you will go on missing God -- because you have not known him before. Yes, others have known, but whatsoever they have said are only maps. I can give you only a map. All knowledge is a map. Don't start worshipping the map, don't start creating a temple around the map. That's how temples have been created. One temple is devoted to the Vedas, another to the Bible, another to the Koran -- these are maps! These are not the real country, they are only charts. When I say something to you, I have to use words. Words reach you, you jump upon the words, you start hoarding the words -- the mind is a great hoarder -- and then you start thinking that you know.

 

This is not the way to know. The way to know is to discard all knowledge. And discard it in a single blow! Don't go slowly, gradually. If you see the point it can happen in this very moment. In fact, to see the point is to let it happen. You need not do anything in particular, you need not even drop knowledge. Just seeing the point that knowledge cannot make you a knower -- in fact it will hinder you -- seeing this, the revolution... seeing this, the transformation.

 

So when the mind is naked, is silent, is nonfunctioning, is in utter waiting, then there comes truth. Then there is truth. It need not come from anywhere, it has always been there. But you were so full of knowledge, hence you went on missing it.

 

Nothingness can know truth because in nothingness intelligence functions totally. Only in nothingness does intelligence function totally. That's why -- you see the miracle! -- children are so intelligent and old people, by and by, become so dull. Children learn things so fast! The older you become the more difficult it becomes to learn. If you are old and you want to learn Chinese, you will take thirty years; and a child learns within two or three years. [....]

 

Nothingness knows no fear, no greed, no ambition, no violence. Nothingness knows no mediocrity, no stupidity, no idiocy. Nothingness knows no hell, no heaven. And because there is no fear, there is intelligence.

 

This is one of the greatest statements to be remembered: intelligence is when fear is not. Then action has a totally different quality to it. When you act out of your nothingness the action has a totally different quality to it. It is divine, it is godly. Why? -- because when you act out of nothingness it is not a reaction, when you act out of nothingness it is not a plan, when you act out of nothingness it is not rehearsed. When you act out of nothingness it is spontaneous, then you live moment to moment. You are a nothingness: a situation arises and you respond to it. If you are an ego you never respond, you always react.

 

Let it be explained to you. When you are an ego you always react. For example, if you think you are a very, very good man, you think you are a saint, and then something happens -- somebody insults you -- now, will you be responding to this insult or reacting? If you think you are a saint you will think thrice about how to react, what to do so you can save your sainthood too; otherwise this man can destroy it just by insulting you. You cannot be spontaneous, you have to look back, you have to ponder over it. And time is passing. It may even be a single moment, but time is passing. It cannot be spontaneous, it cannot be in the moment. And you act out of the past. You think, "This is too much. If I become angry" -- and anger is coming -- "if I become angry my sainthood will be lost. That is too much to pay for this"... you start smiling. To save your sainthood you smile.[....]

 

The man of spontaneity does not react, he responds. What is the difference? He just allows the situation to function over him, and he allows the response to come out, whatsoever it is.

 

The man who lives out of the past is predictable, and the man who lives moment to moment is unpredictable. And to be predictable is to be a thing. To be unpredictable is to be freedom -- that is the dignity of man. The day you are unpredictable... nobody knows, not even you; remember, not even you.... If you already know what you will do, then it is no longer response. You are already ready, it is rehearsed. [....]

 

Facing a nothingness you have to be nothing. Only then can there be a meeting, because only the similars can meet. Then there is great joy, then there is great beauty. Then there is dialogue. Maybe not a single word is uttered, but there is dialogue. Sometimes somebody comes and simply sits and starts swaying, closes his eyes, goes inwards -- that is the way to come towards me; he goes inside himself and simply jumps into me and allows me to jump into him, or simply touches my feet, or simply looks into my eyes. Or sometimes a great question also arises, but it is in the moment -- then it is true, then it has immense power, then it comes from your very deepest core. It has relevance.

 

When you act out of nothingness, you respond; it is no longer a reaction. It has truth, it has validity in it, authenticity. It is existential. It is immediate, spontaneous, simple, innocent. And this action does not create any karma.

 

Remember, the word karma means action, a particular action. Not all actions create karma, remember. Buddha lived after his enlightenment for forty-two years. He was not sitting all the time under the bodhi tree doing nothing. He did a thousand and one things, but karma was not created. He acted! -- but it was no longer reaction, it was response.

 

If you respond out of nothingness it leaves no residue, it leaves no traces on you, karma is not created. You remain free. You go on acting and you remain free. It is as if a bird flies into the sky, leaves no traces, no footprints. The man who lives in the sky of nothingness leaves no footprints, leaves no karma, no residue. His act is total. And when the act is total, it is finished, it is complete. And a complete act does not hang around you like a cloud; only incomplete acts hang around you.

 

Somebody insulted you -- you wanted to hit him but you didn't. You saved your sainthood, you smiled and blessed the man and went home. Now it is going to be difficult: now the whole night you will dream that you are hitting the man. You may even kill him in your dreams. For years it will hang around you; it is incomplete. Anything incomplete is dangerous. When you are phony everything becomes incomplete. You love a woman but not enough to make it complete. Even while making love you are not entirely there; maybe you are still rehearsing. Maybe you have been reading sex manuals which are available. Maybe you have been reading Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra, or Masters and Johnson or the Kinsey Report, and you have been learning how to make love. And you are ready, knowledgeable! Now this woman is just an opportunity to practice your knowledge. So you are practicing your knowledge, but it is going to be incomplete because you are not in it. And then it is unsatisfying, then you feel frustrated -- and the cause is your knowledge.

 

Love is not something to be practiced. Life need not be practiced; life has to be lived, in utter innocence. Life is not a drama -- you need not prepare, you need not go into a rehearsal for it. Let it come as it comes, and be spontaneous.

 

But how can you be spontaneous if the ego is there? Ego is a great actor, ego is a great politician; ego goes on manipulating you. The ego says, "If you really want to act in a polished way preparation is needed. If you really want to act in a cultured way you have to rehearse it." The ego is a performer, and because of this performer you go on missing the joy, the celebration, the blessing of life.

 

Buddha says: When action comes out of nothing it creates no karma. Then it is so total that its very totality... and the circle is complete and finished. You never look backwards. Why do you go on looking backwards? -- because there are things incomplete. Whenever something is complete you don't look back. It is finished! The full point has been achieved, there is nothing more to do about it. Act out of nothingness and your action is total, and the total action leaves no memory -- no psychological memory, I mean.

 

The memory is left in the brain, but there is no psychological hangup. And a man who has no hangups is my definition of a sannyasin.

 

When the act is utterly complete, you are free of it. When the act is total, you slip out of it -- like a snake slips out of the old skin and the old skin is left behind. Only incomplete acts become karma, remember it. But to have a complete act, it has to come out of nothingness.

 

-Osho, “The Heart Sutra, #5“